


More

by Applesandbannas747



Category: Fence (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-06-18 15:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15489390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Applesandbannas747/pseuds/Applesandbannas747
Summary: Nick is determined to beat Seiji at something. Anything, really.





	1. First Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> idk man i just need these dumb boys to kiss right now so here we go i hope you like my trash

Nicholas Cox was anything but pleased when Seiji went and twisted his ankle during practice. Sure, he hated the guy but a twisted ankle meant  _a lot_  more time spent in his room. And Seiji's room also happened to be Nick’s room. So, in short, it meant a lot more forced time together.

Nick returned to his room after a late practice and, once again, Seiji was still in his bed, ankle elevated and iced. Seiji shot Nick a glare, which Nick thought was unwarranted. It wasn’t his fault Seiji had hurt his damn ankle. Wasn’t his fault that it was a bad enough twist that Seiji couldn’t even go to practice for two more days. And yet, Seiji didn’t seem to care. Nick was the only available person for his bad mood to reach and, as such, Nick had been the poor soul at which all that moodiness was directed.

“The guys all wanted me to tell you they miss you at practice,” Nick told Seiji with little enthusiasm or sincerity before disappearing behind the duck curtain. As he sat down on his bed and kicked off his shoes he heard Seiji readjust on his own bed.

“I assume you butchered proper technique, as usual.” Seiji jeered through the divider. Nick bristled, briefly considering throwing his sweaty socks at the other boy. He decided against it. He’d get scolded by Bobby for ‘abusing the injured’  _again_.

“Honestly, I don’t get why anyone misses you. I find practice to be much more pleasant without your grumpy ass there.”

“It’s because I’m actually an asset to the team, rather than a deadweight. Like you.” Seiji shot at him as he reappeared around the curtain. Looking at that sneering face, Nick couldn’t help it. He threw the bundled up piece of cloth in his hand at Seiji’s face, then continued on into the bathroom.

“Shit,” Nick muttered to himself when he realized what he’d just thrown at Seiji. The black tank he’d been planning on changing into after his shower. Ah well, he reasoned, it could have been worse. He could have thrown his sleep shorts instead.  _That_  would’ve been much more awkward.

***

Nick took his time in the shower, letting the hard jets of water beat against his sore muscles and purge the sticky sweat from his body. Not for the first time, he was incredibly glad that he didn’t pay any sort of water billfor living in the dorms. It meant he could shower after practice for as long as he liked  _and_ , if need be, take a shower before classes in the morning too. That was a luxury if ever he’d known one.

He dried off and pulled on his shorts before remembering that he’d thrown his shirt at Seiji half an hour ago. He’d better go get that back. He collected his discarded clothes and dumped them in the laundry hamper Seiji had put in the bathroom last week.

 _“Leaving your mess all over the floor is all well and good so long as it stays on_ your side  _of the room. The bathroom is a shared space, however, and I will not live in your filth”_ Nick remembered Seiji’s nose scrunching in disgust as he’d said it, looking at the piles of old laundry stacked everywhere in the bathroom. He’d promptly left their room and returned moments later with a white wicker hamper from who knew where. Nick had ignored it at first, but Seiji had threatened to throw any strewn clothes away. Nick believed he would, too. So. The hamper it was.

Nick opened the bathroom door, letting the warm fog escape into the cooler room. Seiji greeted him with another sneer.

“This isn’t a brothel,” he commented, regarding Nick’s bare chest. “Put on some clothes, would you?”

“Like I’d visit a brothel where you were the only worker.” This got a bit of color to rise in Seiji’s cheeks. Whether it was anger or embarrassment at the implication he was a prostitute, Nick wasn’t sure. It made him smirk either way.

“Just go,” Seiji snapped, unable to come up with a properly biting response. Nick’s eyes gleamed.

“You’re not great at battles of the wits, are you?”

“I’d hardly call this a battle of the wits. Both parties involved in such a battle would need wits to speak of. You’re even more disadvantaged in this bout than you are in fencing.”

“Bummer, for a second there I was sure I’d found something I was ahead in,” Nick sighed dramatically. He was about to disengage when his eyes fell on the wadded up tank top he’d originally meant to retrieve. It was nestled in the corner of Seiji’s bed and the wall. He wasn’t about to ask Seiji to pass him his shirt, so he went ahead and climbed on top of the bed himself, reaching across Seiji’s body to snatch at the cloth.

“Get off,” Seiji let out a strangled sort of yell and Nick realized too late what this might seem like to the boy beneath him.  _Shit._

“Calm down,” he snapped, grabbing his shirt and flopping around so he was no longer over Seiji, but rather sitting precariously on the side of his bed. He tugged on his shirt, glaring at Seiji pointedly. He seemed even more flustered than Nick felt. And, suddenly, an idea struck.

“Hey, Seiji,” Nick said slyly. “I’ll admit you’re a better fencer than I am. For now, anyway. And I’d say we’re evenly matched in banter. Mostly. But there must be  _something_ I beat the great Seiji Katayama at.”

“Doubtful,” Seiji was eyeing Nick suspiciously, likely wondering why the hell he was still sitting on his bed.

“Oh, I’m sure there’s something.”

“Such as?”

Nick pretended to think, letting a grin widen across his face. “Like…how many people have you been with, for instance?”

“Excuse me?”

“You know, how  _experienced_ are you?”

“And what has that got to do with anything?” He looked distinctly uncomfortable now. Good.

“Well, I’m no Aiden, but I’m pretty sure I beat you in way of relationships. I’d be surprised if you have more than a couple summer camp kisses under your belt, so to speak.”

“I fail to see how kissing experience is equivalent to fencing.”

“Oh, it’s not. But it  _is_  something. And I beat you, don’t I?”

“I wouldn’t say you  _beat_ me,” Seiji scoffed.

“Really? So how many people have you been with, then?”

“None of your business.” Seiji’s cheeks were colored a light pink now and Nick couldn’t believe his luck.

“Oh my god.”

“What?”

“No way.”

“What?” Seiji was sitting up now too, glaring at Nick.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never been with anyone?” Nick could see the color deepen in Seiji’s face. “It’s true! The great Seiji Katayama has never even dated.”

“So?” He snapped. “I’ve been too busy fencing to—to go around kissing people. Maybe if you were more focused on fencing instead of—.” But Nick had stopped listening.

“Wait. You mean you’ve never been kissed?” Nick had just assumed Seiji had never been in a serious relationship. But this was so much better. “Like, ever?”

“Shut up.”

“So is it like a  _thing_ for you, or are you just that uninterested in it?”

“I don’t—.”

“I mean…like, are you saving your first kiss for someone special or do you just not care?”

“I  _don’t_  care. Like I said, I’m too busy fencing—.”

“So, you don’t care  _at all?”_

“Not in the slightest.”

“So, theoretically, anyone could have your first kiss. You wouldn’t mind at all who got it?”

“No. Why would I?”

“Anyone?”

“Well, not a murderer or something, but honestly I don’t see why everyone thinks it’s such a big deal.”

“Then give it to me.” Nick was almost surprised at his words.

“What?”

“Your first kiss. If you really don’t care about it, then give it to me.” He was staring Seiji in the eyes now, letting him know he was serious. Because, honestly, he was.

“And why would you want to kiss me?”

“Oh no, it’s not like that. I just want your  _first_  kiss.” It made perfect sense to Nick, but Seiji didn’t seem to understand the difference. Nick would be the one to beat Seiji. The one to surpass him in skill and beat him 15-0 every time. He’d see him in pieces. He’d take that smugness from Seiji. He’d take the winning streak and arrogant confidence. And, while he was at it, why not take his first kiss too? It was just another piece of Seiji that Nick could take. Another piece no one else could ever have. It made  _perfect_  sense. “So?”

“I might not be an expert on kissing,” Seiji started, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, “but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like fencing. I don’t think you can  _win_  at kissing.”

“Says you. So, Mr. Never Been Kissed, were you telling the truth about not caring? Or are you saving it for someone special after all?” It was a challenge, and Seiji knew it.

“Whatever. I don’t care.”

Nick grinned. He’d already won. He brought his right hand up to cup the back of Seiji’s head, letting the other one find its way to Seiji’s hip. Then he tugged the other boy toward him, leaning in as he did so. And just like that, he’d taken Seiji’s first kiss. But he wasn’t done. He pressed harder against Seiji’s mouth, coaxing it open. Seiji obliged, albeit accidentally, by letting out a startled gasp. Nick kissed Seiji mercilessly, nipping at his bottom lip and darting his tongue around the warm and pliant mouth on his.

To his surprise, Nick felt shaky hands come up to clasp around his back. For reasons unknown to him, this triggered a deep desire in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t stop now. The feeling in his stomach—one he’d never felt to this degree—drove him forward. Literally. He didn’t know what he was doing, or how it had happened, but he was now leaning over Seiji, pushing his blue-pajama clad back into the mattress. This elicited another gasp from Seiji, though it was closer to a moan than a proper gasp. That sound did things to Nick. He couldn’t stop now. Didn’t want to. The desire in his stomach coiled and raged, urging him on, on,  _on._

Nick’s hand wandered from its place at Seiji’s hip, darting up under the hem of that ridiculous night shirt. Seiji’s hands knotted into the fabric on his own back at that, and Nick gave up to reckless abandon. He let his mouth fall away from Seiji’s, who panted hard and fast, eyes still closed. He’d always wanted to see Seiji fall apart. In front of an audience, broken and humiliated after a ruthless defeat by Nick. But  _this_ …it was better. Here was Seiji Katayama, underneath him with hair wild and messy, clothes skewed and rumpled, chest rising and falling in great heaves. He’d lost all composure, all smugness.  _More_ , he thought,  _I want more_.

Nick grazed his teeth along Seiji’s exposed collar bone. A shudder ran through Seiji’s body.  _More._  He kissed the very same spot, then kissed up until he found a suitably tender spot on Seiji’s neck. He nibbled and sucked on it, working the skin between his teeth and under his tongue until an intoxicating mix of purple and pink blossomed there. Then his hand found its way to the collar of Seiji’s shirt, and deftly popped a few buttons out of place, revealing ever more skin as he did so.  _More._ He let his lips trail down the exposed skin, stopping at a spot on his chest and starting the process over again.

The bruises across his torso after his first match with Seiji floated in Nick’s mind. He wanted very badly to mark Seiji up in a similar manner. Seiji’s heart was beating fast, his quickened heartbeat fluttering under Nick’s lips. Nick ran his hand down Seiji’s chest, ripping open even more buttons. He wanted to kiss and bite every inch of skin he could.  _Mine._ Yes, he’d make Seiji his—.

Nick stopped. Sense beating away at desire, Nick reluctantly forced his mouth to leave Seiji’s skin. What was he doing?  _More_ , insisted every fiber of his being. Never, in all his life, had Nick felt the intensity of  _wanting_  more than he did then. And it scared him. He peeled his hand away from Seiji’s toned stomach and brought it up to his cheek. His other hand was still tangled in Seiji’s hair. He looked so…appealing there, strewn across the bed, lips pink with recent and vigorous kissing.  _Beautiful_ , Nick’s mind supplied.

Nick leaned down to place a chaste kiss against Seiji’s lips. No doubt, the very kiss Seiji had expected to receive in the first place. Then he disentangled himself from Seiji entirely and retreated to his side of the room.

 _What,_ he wondered,  _have I gotten myself into?_


	2. Chapter 2

When Nick woke up the next morning, Seiji was still asleep. No surprises there; why wake up at an ungodly hour for practice you couldn't do? Not, of course, that Seiji hadn’t tried. His first day on injury induced leave, Seiji had already been in the gym when Nick got there for his early practice. He’d made his way painfully through several maneuvers before Nick fetched Coach to stop him. Coach had exploded at Seiji and threatened to boot him off the team if she so much as  _saw_  him before he was due back.

Seiji had refused to even talk to Nick—not even to make a snide remark or tell him off—for almost three whole days. Just death glares and, once, a slammed door in his face.

Nick glanced at Seiji’s bed before leaving. The dork had re-buttoned his top and smoothed down his hair neatly. Nick shook his head, hurrying out of the room before he lost his mind again.

If Nick had thought falling asleep with thoughts of Seiji’s soft skin under his fingertips, his annoyingly perfect hair tangled in his fist, and Seiji’s gasping lips against his haunting his memory was hard…well  _that_  had been nothing compared to trying to fence with those thoughts knocking around in his head. All day, the only thing Nick thought about was Seiji, and for once, not in a mean way. In a confused way, absolutely, but he felt no real malice toward his roommate just then.

“Alright, spill,” Bobby said, plunking his lunch tray down next to Nick’s.

“Huh?”

“You’ve got that look on your face, the one that means you’re stewing over something Seiji related. What’d you do now? If you hit him again—.”

“Hey! I  _kicked_ him, not hit!”

“Because that’s so much better,” Bobby deadpanned. “anyway, I thought I told you to be nice to him! He’s hurt!”

“Hurt or not, he’s still a pain in the ass. And he deserved to get kicked.”

“Nick, you don’t understand!” Bobby insisted. “Not only did he bust up his ankle but now, because of it, his  _soul_  is hurting.”

“Bobby, I love you, but that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Yeah? Well, how would you feel if you couldn’t fence for two weeks?” This got Nick to pause. He’d be miserable, he knew. Fencing was what made him happiest. “See? Hurting soul.” Bobby said triumphantly.

“That’s still the stupidest thing I've ever heard. But I get your point. And, besides, I didn’t abuse Seiji.”

“Then what did you do? Because you’ve been either glowering or staring off into space all day. Coach won’t be happy if you turn up to afternoon practice like this, you know.”

“I know.” Nick sighed. Talking with Bobby usually helped to sort things out.Deep breath. “Last night,” he started, unsure how to finish. Bobby nodded him on. “I, uh, kinda assaulted Seiji.”

“But you just said you didn’t hurt him!” Bobby was gearing up for another reprimanding lecture.

“I didn’t,” Nick assured him quickly. “I…you know,  _attacked_  him?” Nick could feel the heat in his face as he watched Bobby’s features turn from confusion to disbelief.

Then, he screamed.

“Shhh!” Nick said desperately, aware that almost every eye in the cafeteria had turned to them. Seiji’s included,unfortunately. Nick accidentally met them and felt as though he might combust from embarrassment. No way could Seiji know what he and Bobby were talking about, right? Then Seiji raised an eyebrow and gave Nick one of his signature snide sneers. Nick felt his eyes narrow, embarrassment forgotten. Seiji really thought he was above everyone, the condescending jerk—

“How in the world did  _that_  happen?” Bobby hissed.

“Huh?” Nick was busy trying to glare a hole through the back of Seiji's head.

“The  _assaulting_ ,” Bobby slapped his arm, bringing Nick back to the current conversation.

“Oh. Well, I kissed him, and that had been the plan, right? Kiss him and be done. But then I just…couldn’t stop.” His cheeks were a deep red again.

“You…” Bobby said, staringat Nick with his mouth comically hanging open in astonishment. “You  _kissed Seiji?”_ He squeaked.

“Well, yeah…what did you think I meant when I said I attacked him?”

“I don’t know! I thought you were exaggerating. I thought maybe you accidentally fell on him or walked in on him in the shower or something. But you kissed him!”

“Yeah, I know,” Nick hissed, glancing around to make sure no one else heard. “I was there, remember?”

“But  _why?_ And  _how?_ ” Asked Bobby, finally lowering his voice to a whisper.

“It doesn’t matter,” Nick mumbled. Talking with Bobby was definitely  _not_  helping this time.

“Did he like it?”

“Huh?” Nick stared at Bobby, dumbfounded. “Um, I don’t know?”

Bobby’s eyes went wide. “Well, Nick, you’d better find out. What if you actually did  _assault_  him?”

“I hadn’t thought…” It hadn’t even occurred to him that Seiji could feel as though…But then, Nick  _had_  kind of forced the issue. “Shit.”

Nick shot up abruptly and marched over to Seiji’s table.

“Nick!” Bobby yelped, trying to stop him, to no avail.

“I need to talk to you,” Nick said, hands on his hips in his no-nonsense pose. He didn’t even wait for the other boy to answer before pulling him to his feet and dragging him away.

“Nick, what are you  _doing_? Let go of me,” Seiji protested the whole way to their room, but he must have been curious because he didn’t tug out of Nick’s grip.

As soon as they were in their room, Nick blurted out, “I’m sorry.”

“As you should be,” Seiji said grumpily, pulling his arm away and straightening his sleeve. “You interrupted my lunch, dragged me here rather roughly for an injured man,” Nick had to scoff at this. Seiji’s ankle was basically healed at this point. “And for what? You’d better have something  _damned_  important to tell me. Perhaps you’re finally going to tell me what relation you have to Jesse?”

Nick wished Seiji hadn’t said that name. Bringing up Jesse made Nick’s blood boil. Jesse couldn’t have Seiji, not on top of everything else he had. No. Nick wouldn’t let him. And yet, Seiji seemed determined to give his full attention to that pampered brat. A familiar rage built up in Nick until it drowned out all sense and left white noise roaring in his ears. He was used to this sensation—it had landed him in detention for fighting more times than he could count. It had landed him on top of Seiji in a supply closet once. He grabbed Seiji’s collar and slammed him against the door they’d just come through. Seiji was surprised, but soon his fist was ready to fly at Nick’s face.

Nick was faster. He caught Seiji’s fist with his free hand. Seiji’s face contorted in rage. Why should he be angry? He was the one who refused to see Nick. The one who insisted on seeing only Jesse when he looked at Nick. A rush went through Nick, though, looking at that face. A strand of hair had fallen free of the meticulous hairdo, and it framed his mole as if by design. Nick recognized this rush, too. The rush right before the drop on a rollercoaster, before a good punch, landed perfectly, before—Nick kissed Seiji. Anger roared in his ears and the desirous monster in his stomach reared its head in his stomach, once again pleading for  _more_.

“Fuck,” Nick pulled away as if burned. Seiji still stood against the door, looking confused and utterly kissable.  _This is something Jesse will never see_ , Nick thought in spite of himself,  _this is something for me. Only me._  Then:  _What is wrong with me?_  “Fuck, Seiji, I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”

“So you’ve said,” Seiji said with disdain, but the pink splashed across his face diminished the effect.

“I don’t know why I—I mean, look, I’m sorry I like, uh, attacked you? Twice now? That was pretty shit of me. I should have made sure you were…consenting? Shit, fuck, I’m an idiot, okay? I’m just…I’m really sorry?” Nick bumbled through his apology, aware that the desire pulsing through him didn’t much care what Seiji wanted,  _or_  what Nick wanted, for that matter.

To his surprise, Seiji laughed. Actually  _laughed_.

“Nicholas, I’m the superior athlete between us. If I’d really wanted you to stop I would have  _made_  you.” Seiji said it with such derision it made Nick bristle.

“Alright, cool,” he snapped. “I only worried because Bobby said—.”

“Bobby?” Seiji no longer seemed entertained. “I would prefer if you didn’t go around advertising last night,” he said cooly. “Or the events of two minutes ago.”

“Please, like I want people thinking I’m part of the Seiji Fan Club. Bobby’s my best friend, I tell him everything. But that’s  _not_  the same thing at all.”

“You’d better hope that Bobby can manage to not spread this around.”

And then Seiji spun on his heel and left. Nick stood there, stunned, staring after him for long minutes.

At least he hadn’t sexually assaulted Seiji for real. Then Seiji’s words hit him,  _If I’d really wanted you to stop, I would have_ made _you._  So did that mean he  _hadn’t_  wanted Nick to stop?


	3. Chapter 3

Nick regretted at least all of his decisions. He was awake, despite the tiredness that always settled deep in his bones after fencing practice. He wanted so bad to sleep, but it was fucking impossible. Worse than last night, thinking about Seiji’s stupidly perfect body writhing beneath him. Worse because the bastard had gone and issued a near-invitation.

_If I’d really wanted you to stop, I would have_ made _you._

Nick groaned and tossed in his bed, punching his pillow into a more comfortable position. This was pure torture. It was like phycological warfare, really. Seiji lay only feet away, sleeping as peacefully as ever, unaware—or uncaring—what effect his words had had on Nick.

_If I’d really wanted you to stop, I would have_ made _you._

A delicious and dangerous thrill swept through Nick’s stomach. Seiji was perfectly capable of throwing Nick off of him. He was stronger, slightly bigger, and had great stamina. Hell, the only reason Nick had any sort of upper hand in physical altercations was because of his speed and his skill at fist fighting. But Seiji wasn’t weak enough to get pinned down hopelessly by  _anyone_ , least of all Nick.

Yet Nick had pinned him down twice. Seiji had  _let_  Nick pin him down twice. Somehow that was hotter than any previous scenario Nick had entertained. Seiji had literally surrendered control over to Nick, let him kiss him and touch him and— _I’m so fucked._ Nick flopped around again, kicking the sheets half off him and adjusting his hugging-pillow’s angle.

Seiji let out the smallest of sighs, a contented and undeniably cute sound uttered in sleep. Nick was going crazy. Possibly, he was even going to die from all this sexual frustration.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you,” he grumbled into his pillow. But he knew he’d do the same thing over and over, if given the choice.

***

“You look terrible,” Bobby took one look at Nick before scurrying to the bathroom. He returned with cold paper towels and handed them to Nick. “Press this against your eyes, it’ll help.”

Nick did as he was told and grunted a thanks. He hadn’t told Bobby what Seiji had said. He wanted to keep that to himself, for some reason. Bobby would doubtless have insight and advice if Nick  _did_  tell him, but…well, he didn’t want to get into all the things that stupid admission made him feel.

As if reading Nick’s mind Bobby asked, “sooo, did you and Seiji talk it out?” Nick groaned, slumped against the gym wall, head tilted up and cold compress pressed against his eyes. He’d avoided the subject surprisingly easily yesterday. But Bobby had cornered him after his morning fencing regime.

“Yeah, we figured it out.”

“And? Did you sexually assault Seiji Katayama or not?”

“Not,” Nick said with relief. He’d practically forgotten the ‘did I or did I not assault my roommate’ aspect of yesterday’s conversation. He really was glad to be able to report to Bobby that he had not, in fact, assaulted Seiji.

“What, you’re not going to tell me more than that?”

“Sorry, Bobby. I got in trouble for talking to you about it at all.” Nick peeked out from under the paper towels. “You won’t tell anyone about this, will you?”

“Of course not!” Bobby sounded indignant. Nick laughed.

“Thanks, man.”

“Uh-huh,” Bobby was giving Nick a  _look_. “But can’t you throw me a bone? What was it like, kissing Seiji? Was he amazing? Is his skin as soft as it looks? Oh! And his hair, tell me about his hair!”

“Uh, it’s black?” Nick offered, to which Bobby shoved him playfully. “It’s soft,” Nick conceded. “No clue what product he uses to style it, but you can’t feel it at all.”

“And?”

“His skin’s soft, too…” and easily marked. “And kissing him isn’t at all like you’d expect,” no fighting to be in charge or any of the aggression he showed in fencing. Soft, pink lips, gasping against his. Tongue as hesitant and unsure as the hands encircling Nick’s back…Nick shivered. “It’s better,” he hadn’t really meant to say it out loud. Bobby squeaked, looking for all the world like he might explode.

“I’m so jealous of you Nick,” Bobby sighed. “You don’t even  _like_  Seiji, but you’re the one kissing him.”

“Right,” Nick pulled the considerably less cold towels down over his eyes again. It was getting harder to remember that he was supposed to dislike Seiji.

***

Actually, Nick reflected, it was incredibly easy to remember why he disliked Seiji. He was completely icing Nick. Like, you-turned-me-in-to-Coach level of icing. Nick couldn’t figure out what the hell he’d done to offend the guy so much. He hadn’t been this pissed yesterday, when Nick had arguably deserved it. All day it had been silent glares and turned shoulders.

After a particularly nasty glance in the hallway, Nick had turned to Bobby, “You see that, right? He’s being worse than usual! What is  _up_ with him?” But Bobby had just shrugged and adjusted his skirt absently.

But the ice out act had a benefit, Nick supposed, as he settled into bed. Between his own exhaustion and Seiji’s bitch fit, he’d actually be able to sleep tonight. And he did, drifting off to sleep within minutes of hitting the pillow. Seiji, the rude asshole, couldn’t be bothered to stay out of his dreams, though. But even that was okay; dream-Seiji was cute and  _nice_  and much more tolerable than real-Seiji…

_“Nicholas Cox, you unbelievable low-life!”_  Nick woke up to the angry shout, confused and alarmed. Seiji was the source, back lit by the bathroom light as he loomed in the doorway. Nick sat up groggily, checked his alarm clock. Only 4:07. What was  _wrong_ with Seiji, waking up this damn early every day?

“Oh yeah,” Nick yawned. “You’re allowed back today, huh?”

“I can’t believe you,” Seiji growled. Nick scratched his head, squinting at the boy across the room from him.

“What did I do?” He asked, rolling out of bed and padding closer to the bathroom, letting his eyes adjust to the light.

“You left marks all over—very  _obviously_  on—there’s no denying that they’re—.” Seiji spluttered to a halt. Seiji, spluttering?

Then, Nick saw.

“Oh,” he said, staring at Seiji’s bare chest. “Sorry,” he shrugged, a little sheepishly. But seeing Seiji, hair wet and only in slacks was distracting him. Not to mention all those reminders of what they’d done splattered across Seiji’s torso and neck. It made Nick itch to do it all again.

“Sorry?” Seiji was incredulous. “How am I supposed to explain  _these,”_ an angry gesture at the bruises, “away?”

“They’re just hickeys. Aiden comes in covered in ‘em all the time. No one cares.”

“I’m  _not_  Aiden.”

“Right,” Nick smirked. “Sorry to ruin your prim and proper reputation. But, seriously, how did you only notice them  _now_?”

“Shut up,” Seiji snapped. He turned back to the mirror, examining the day old hickeys, specifically the ones high enough to peek out of an open collar. “How long until they fade?”

“No clue,” Nick answered, to which Seiji gave him a disbelieving snort. “Seriously, it depends on you. But give it a week or two and your skin will be back to its usual perfection…” unless, of course, Nick had any say in the matter. He rather liked what he saw in the mirror. Seiji must have caught his hungry eyes in the reflection because he turned to raise a knowing eyebrow at Nick.

“If you leave  _anything_  above shoulder level again, I will suffocate you in your sleep.” Seiji turned again, this time reaching for his shirt. Nick felt the impulsive need to feel Seiji’s skin beneath his fingers, to confirm that all these tantalizing hints were for real.

He caught Seiji before he’d managed to pull on his shirt. Seiji gasped, goosebumps erupting on his warm skin from the contact of Nick’s considerably colder arms now wrapped around him. His muscles were tensed, like he was ready to lunge at any moment, but he didn’t pull away. Nick smiled.

“I won’t,” he assured, pressing his lips to Seiji’s shoulder blade. Nick was so tired and Seiji was so warm. He wondered how long he could get away with holding him here, just like this.

“I need to go,” Seiji said finally, pulling out of Nick’s grasp and tugging on his shirt. “I won’t be pulled into your slacking habits.”

Nick considered getting mad, but it was too early for that. He gave Seiji a half-hearted glare, then pulled him in close by the belt loops. Then he gently bit a very surprised Seiji’s earlobe. He cackled as he shooed Seiji out of the bathroom. No point going back to bed now.


	4. Chapter 4

Coach didn’t even acknowledge Seiji’s return to practice, which made Nick smirk. Self-important bastard probably expected a ton of fanfare. The other guys gave varying degrees of welcomes, from Aiden’s ‘done milking that wound?’ to Eugene’s (attempted) noogie to Harvard’s genuine smile and warm hand shake. Nick, of course, didn’t bother. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen the guy constantly over the past weeks. But he couldn’t help to take the excuse to look at Seiji. Much as he hated to admit it, he couldn’t get enough of Seiji’s stupid face lately.

Strangely, though, when Nick turned to examine Seiji, he found the other boy’s gaze already on him. Then, without permission, his eyes flicked down to Seiji’s collar. He couldn’t make out the hickeys, but he  _did_  notice a flush creeping its way up. Meeting Seiji’s eyes once more, Nick couldn’t help but grin. Which provoked a sneer from Seiji, but, Nick noted with satisfaction, the tips of his ears were looking rather pink, too. This, he decided, was going to be much more fun than he’d anticipated.

“Alright boys, let’s get to stabbing,” Coach yelled, breaking up the welcome party.

Practice was good. Frustrating now that Seiji was back and beating everyone, but still good. They were all improving, and more than that, they were coming together as a team little by little. Nick’s muscles ached by the time they were done, and he had a couple bruises, but he was in a good mood. Fencing did that to him. Made him forget all his troubles outside of the gym and made all the pain and effort worth it.

“What is that?” He heard Aiden’s delighted voice carry from the locker rooms. Nick had a feeling he knew exactly what  _that_ was, but he hurried into the locker rooms anyway. Sure enough, Aiden was pointing at the discolored skin peeking out from Seiji’s uniform, no longer perfectly concealing everything as it had before the long practice session.

“It’s a hickey, bro,” Eugene offered helpfully.

Nick observed Aiden’s interest and glee in this new development, Eugene’s amusement, and Harvard’s polite disinterest before finally turning to Seiji, expecting the worst. He was entirely red, but more with anger, Nick thought, than embarrassment. Though there was clearly a good amount of that too. He met Nick’s eyes only briefly, though the rage was not only evident, but potent enough to make Nick shrink back a little.

“Now who on earth have you been getting it on with?” Aiden asked a snarling Seiji. “I didn’t think that sort of thing was your style.”

“What’s not his style?” Eugene asked with a laugh. “We don’t know what sort of thing he even got up to.”

“I just can’t imagine our Seiji letting anyone come near enough to him for so much as a kiss!” Aiden smiled slyly, reaching out a hand to clap Seiji on the back. As if to prove Aiden’s point, Seiji caught his arm and threw it down in disgust before it even touched him.

“Then don’t,” was all he said, turning on his heel and leaving the room with all his gear still on.

“It really is a hickey, isn’t it?” Eugene asked in amazement, watching the door Seiji had just slammed through.

“What, did you think it was a fencing bruise? No one hit him at all today, Gene.” Aiden was too busy pondering this new development to defend his inability to score.

“Yeah, but…who do you think it is? Who gave it to him?” Nick shifted uncomfortably at the question.

“Would you two drop it?” Harvard sighed with exasperation, finally joining in the conversation.

“Oh come on, you’ve got to be curious too,” Aiden tried, but Harvard was having none of it and effectively shut the speculations down. At least for now. Nick shot him a grateful glance, though he wasn’t sure the captain caught it. Probably for the best he didn’t or he might intuit why Nick was giving it.

***

“I’m sorry,” Nick hastened to say the moment he made it into their room. Seiji was neatly put together with freshly washed hair and sweats. “I’m really  _really_  sorry, Seiji. I swear I didn’t think the guys would make such a big deal about it. Well, okay, that’s a lie. I knew they’d be like that. But I wasn’t  _thinking_  about that all when I, uh, was kissing you. I didn’t mean to embarrass you and stuff.” Even if he did look almost cute when he was embarrassed, Nick thought guiltily.

Seiji sighed and looked up from whatever homework he was working on. “If they ask Bobby about it, will he keep his mouth shut?” Nick had been prepared for a lot of different reactions. Yelling, maybe a punch, the silent treatment, a scathing glare, some lecturing. But he hadn’t expected that.

“Bobby? That’s what you’re worried about?” Nick couldn’t help it, he laughed. Seiji slammed his textbook shut and got to his feet with purpose. Like he might come punch Nick after all. “No,” Nick told him, irritated himself now. “Bobby’s a great friend. He won’t say anything. And I’ve already told you he can keep a secret.”

“You shouldn’t have told him.”

“But I did. And I don’t see why you care so much, anyway.”

“It’s not his business.”

“He’s my friend, Seiji. You tell your friends this sort of stuff. Maybe you’d know that if you actually  _had_  friends.” Nick regretted saying it the moment it left his mouth. A week ago he would have spat the comment with every intent to wound. But now Nick felt no gratification in the anger and hurt that flashed across Seiji’s face at the remark. “I’m sorry,” he said again, which had to be a new record of apologies he’d issued to anyone so close together. Possibly at all.

“You think I care?” Seiji barked a laugh that sounded like a war cry, any pain he might have felt now either gone or masked. “I don’t have time for friends. They’re nothing but trouble and liabilities.”

“Bobby isn’t a liability.” Nick was back to full irritation. “And he really admires you, you know? The least you could do is stop fucking insulting him and implying he’ll go around spreading rumors or whatever.”

Seiji regarded Nick for a long moment. So long a moment that Nick’s skin began to prickle under his eyes. He thought about snapping a terse  _what?_  but decided against it. Instead he tried to let his anger leak out of him. His eyes found the marks he’d left on Seiji’s chest mere nights ago, now exposed by the stretched hem of his shirt. A shirt he only ever wore in the relative privacy of this room, no doubt because it was too unsightly for the common public. The fury sizzling under Nick’s skin began to dissipate as he focused in on that stupid shirt that no one else would ever see Seiji wearing. And the bruised hickeys that stood out starkly, almost prettily, against Seiji’s freakishly pale skin. Yes, the anger was leaving but only because it was being chased out and replaced with that urge to touch and kiss Seiji. That want for something more.

Startled again by the intensity of that want, Nick tore his eyes away from Seiji’s stretched collar and realized that Seiji had been watching him the whole time. Great, thought Nick, Seiji had been watching him check him out. It was all part of some plot—to catch Nick in the act and expose him. Embarrass him. Flustered and floundering, Nick had every intention of surrendering this match and retreating to his bed. But just then Nick was sure he caught the slight rise of one fine, black eyebrow. The almost imperceptible cock of the head. It was as if Seiji were taunting him, challenging him,  _asking_  him…

Was that why he’d stared, Nick wondered. And a slow grin spread across his face as Seiji averted his eyes to the ground, embarrassed now as Nick had been moments before. It was an impossible idea to even entertain, that Seiji was waiting for Nick to kiss him, but his abashed reaction gave the impossible idea credence.

It was all the invitation Nick needed. He was across the room in an instant, an arm wrapping around Seiji’s back as if it belonged there. Maybe it did. He yanked Seiji to him, and the other boy stumbled slightly. Nick didn’t even give him time to fully recover his balance. Seiji yielded control as easily as the past two times Nick had kissed him, opening his mouth to allow Nick access without any protest or hesitation.  _More_. Nick took Seiji’s bottom lip between his teeth and tugged ever so slightly, kneading it softly. This produced a faint “Ah!” from Seiji, his hands closing to fists against Nick’s chest. Why were his hands there? Oh, right. He’d fallen. No, Nick had pulled Seiji into him. He’d caught himself just before Nick started kissing.

 _More._  Nick propelled himself and Seiji a couple more steps, until Seiji was pressed up against the wall again, with Nick pressing firmly against him in turn.

“You really like—,” Seiji was unable to finish, as Nick had taken his lips in another kiss. Soon, though, his lips were wandering down to that stretched out collar and the marks it failed to hide. Gently, he pressed his lips against the sensitive skin. “Nick,” Seiji warned. Nick found that he really liked his name in Seiji’s mouth. Particularly when it was breathy and full of want. Even if it were chiding.

“Don’t worry,” Nick assured him, continuing to kiss the highest hickey. True to his word, he didn’t take the skin into his mouth again, just brushed his lips against it and blew soft breathes on the freshly kissed marks. Ashe did this, his hands found their way up Seiji’s shirt, running up and down the bare skin beneath. Goosebumps exploded across Seiji’s skin and Nick suddenly needed to be kissing him again.

One of Seiji’s hands left its place at his chest and ventured to the back of his head, clumsily wrapping his fingers in Nick’s hair.  _More._  He kissed deeper, pressed harder, held tighter. He wanted more from Seiji than he’d ever wanted from anyone. There was something so endearing and enticing about the contrast between how Seiji was usually—confident, arrogant, sure of himself—and the way he was in moments like these—tentative, clumsy, and apprehensive.

“Seiji,” he whispered into soft black hair, coming up for air. Seiji’s body heaved against his, both hands knotted into him, whether in fabric or hair. Like he felt it too. That craving for  _more._  He wondered briefly how much further he could push Seiji tonight, contemplated running his hand down Seiji’s back, down to his thigh and pulling his leg up to wrap around him. Thought about tugging the shirt off Seiji’s body and going to work in more inconspicuous places. But he didn’t want to push it. To ruin it just because the monster in his stomach couldn’t be satisfied.

So he pressed a kiss into Seiji’s stupidly soft hair and begun to pull away. He only got half way before Seiji grabbed him. Alarmed, Nick froze. Seiji’s cheeks were flushed, though whether from embarrassment or exertion from their recent activities, Nick wasn’t entirely sure.

“My ankle,” Seiji managed, gripping Nick’s arm tightly. “I worked it too hard today.”

“Oh, yeah, I can…” Nick pulled Seiji to him once more and swiveled them before depositing Seiji in his bed. Seiji didn’t let go fast enough, which made Nick fall over with him, barely catching himself above Seiji. His stomach swirled, roaring for an encore. Nick ignored it, laughing nervously. “So, want me to tuck you in and kiss you good night?”

“Get lost,” Seiji said shoving him off the bed and settling in. Still, as Nick got himself ready for bed too, he couldn’t help but worry.

“Will your ankle be okay?”

“It’ll be fine.”

“Okay. Just, you should take it easy. Otherwise I’ll have to tell—.”

“If you tell Coach, I’ll never speak to you again,” Seiji hissed with such venom that Nick glanced over at him, already settled into his pillows. His ears burned pink under Nick’s scrutiny, probably at the childish nature of the threat. But it was a good one, as far as Nick was concerned. Not that he’d ever let the asshole know that.

“Sure, okay. But if you actually fuck up your ankle because of your pride or your hurting soul, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“Hurting soul?” Seiji asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Something Bobby said,” Nick noticed the sour expression on Seiji’s face at the mention of Bobby but didn’t give him time to interject. “But the point is that I get how much you’ve missed fencing. If I’d been banned for so long I’d be dying to do anything I could to get back at it, you know? But injuries need to be taken seriously. I’m actually surprised at how reckless you’ve been with your ankle. If you don’t let it heal properly you’ll never get to fence properly again. And that would suck.”

Seiji held Nick’s gaze, then finally nodded once. Curt and neat, much like Seiji himself, but it was more than Nick had expected. Sure, they’d just had a spectacular snog fest, but Seiji actually listening to Nick’s concerns and taking his advice? That was new and somehow felt just as dangerous and gratifying as the kissing had been.


	5. Chapter 5

Much to Nick’s relief, Seiji did take it easy on his ankle the next day. He was clearly unhappy about it, since it meant the rest of them got more hits on him than usual, but they all knew he was handicapped. Seiji didn’t stick around after practice, once again going to their room to shower and change rather than deal with Aiden’s commentary in the locker room again. Probably wise, since Aiden wasn’t even aware of just how many hickeys littered Seiji’s chest. But Aiden didn’t mention it all day, anyway. Nick was starting to think that he might be off the hook for that now. He was wrong.

“It’s you, right?” Bobby asked at lunch the next day. Nick just blinked at him dumbly. Bobby rolled his eyes as though Nick were being incredibly dense. “The whole school’s talking about it! I heard from Ben who heard from Olly who heard from Frankie that he overheard Aiden and Eugene talking about who gave Seiji a hickey. There are even bets going on over who his secret lover is. It’s you, isn’t it?”

Nick almost spit orange juice out his nose. “Shit, really?”

“Yeah.” Bobby’s eyes gleamed. “Nick, you beast. I can’t believe you’d mar Seiji’s perfect skin!”

“He’s going to kill me,” Nick moaned, head flopping down on his arms. “Or at least never let me kiss him again.”

Bobby gasped so loudly that students at all the surrounding lunch tables looked at him. He waved his hand dismissively. “Nothing to worry about folks, just got a little overexcited.” And, since it was Bobby, and he  _was_  prone to fits of overwhelming excitement, everyone turned back to their food with no further interest. Everyone but Seiji, whose gaze lingered just long enough to catch Nick’s eye, then he delivered a glare to end all glares. Yeah, Nick was fucked.

“What are you making a scene about?” Nick hissed. “You already know that I kissed him.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know you want to  _keep_  kissing him!” Bobby squeaked.

“Oh shit, did I say that? Just forget it, okay?” Nick cursed his lackluster brain to mouth filter, not for the first time in his life.

“It’s just that it seems like you may, you know,  _like_  Seiji.”

Nick shook his head adamantly. “No way. He’s a pompous brat. And he’s mean and unpleasant to be around and a huge pain in the ass. Just because I like kissing him doesn’t mean I like  _him.”_

“Um, yeah, it probably does. You  _have_  been obsessed with him since the moment you met him. I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. Nick, you’ve totally got a crush on him!”

“I’m telling you it’s not like that. It’s just that he gets stupidly sexy when I kiss him. Like he’s completely lost on how to do any of it but he lets me just have at it, and his hair is soft and it smells really good, and if I tug it  _just right_  he makes the cutest sound and he’ll—,”

“Oh my god,” Bobby squealed, face completely red and eyes wide. “Nick, stop it! That’s too much! I’m having an imagination overload,” he covered his face then, “I feel like I’m violating Seiji just by  _knowing_  all that.”

Nick realized just how right Bobby was about that. Guilt and shame immediately seeped into him. Seiji had been upset that Bobby even knew about them. He’d be irate and probably mortified if he knew what Nick had just shared with Bobby. He just kept on digging himself into a hole. Possibly it was his grave. He hadn’t meant to betray Seiji’s trust, or, on a more selfish level, share that part of Seiji that only he saw with anyone. He’d just wanted to make Bobby understand how impossible it was to  _not_  want to keep kissing Seiji.

“Jesus, Nick, you’ve got it for him _bad_ ,” Bobby peeked from between fingers. “The look in your eyes when you were talking about him just then…it was downright indecent.” And Nick could see that a smile was also peeking out from behind Bobby’s hands. He was absolutely  _loving_ this. But he couldn’t be right. Attraction and feelings were two different things.

***

Nick tried to corner Seiji to warn him that, apparently, the whole school was aware of his hickey. But Seiji was an allusive creature and Nick hardly wanted to cause another scene by hauling him to their room in the middle of school again. But no one, save for Aiden and Eugene, were dumb—or bold—enough to ask Seiji directly about it, so it didn’t seem to affect Seiji at all. Not that Nick wouldn’t tell him, but it wasn’t urgent. So he left well enough alone and went through the day without pursuing the issue.

“I’ve never seen him talk to anyone outside of fencing stuff,” Eugene was telling Aiden as they geared up. No Seiji in sight, thankfully. Because, obviously, they were talking about him again.

“Who does he even talk to  _in_  fencing stuff?”

“Nick?” Eugene shrugged, and Nick stiffened. Aiden paused, considering this.

“You’re right. Actually, Harvard and I walked in on them in the supply room once. Nick was on top of him,” Aiden said conspiratorially, and Eugene’s eyebrows almost disappeared they shot up so high.

“I can hear you guys, you know,” Nick grumped. “And we were  _fighting_ , Eugene. Don’t let Aiden mislead you.”

“Huh,” Eugene said, though it was clear he still found the information to be rather condemning.

“You know what they say,” Aiden sung, “There’s a thin line between love and hate.”

“Fuck off, both of you,” Nick snapped, earning a delighted laugh from Aiden in return.

Nick put extra effort into scoring on Aiden during practice.

Bobby came to pick him up after practice, which was rare since he was usually too busy with Dante after school to care much about anyone else. Nick grinned when he saw Bobby’s pigtails bobbing outside the gym doors excitedly. He put away his épée and mask, then made his way to Bobby.

“What’s the occasion?” He asked.

“Frozen yogurt craving,” Bobby informed him seriously, “It hit me hard and you’re my go to…” Bobby trailed off, and it was pretty obvious why. Seiji was heading towards them, radiating anger and disgust. As he brushed past them, he gave Bobby the most bone-chilling glower Nick had ever seen the guy deliver. And he’d received a hell of a lot of those.

“Holy shit, what was that?” Nick turned to Bobby, who looked completely shell shocked. “What a dick. Don’t worry about him, Bobby. Let me just change real quick and we’ll go, okay?” Bobby nodded meekly and Nick hurried to undress.

***

By the time they were sitting on the colorful plush stools of the yogurt shop, Bobby had regained all his color, and all his cheer, too. In fact, he seemed oddly chipper.

“Aren’t you upset?” Nick asked, watching Bobby happily mix his mess of fro-yo and toppings. “I know how much you liked Seiji, and he just looked at you like you were dog shit.”

“You have no tact,” Bobby sighed in a long-suffering way. Nick winced. “And it’s not past tense, I really  _like_  Seiji. I couldn’t figure out why he hated me so much at first. What could I have possibly done for him to look at me like that? But then it hit me!” Bobby looked ready to burst. Nick raised an eyebrow.

“You gonna tell me?”

“It’s you.”

“I’m lost.”

“Nick, I think he’s  _jealous_. And he actually thinks  _I’m_ competition!”

Nick stared at Bobby in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.”

“This is good news. He likes you, too.”

“I don’t like him,” Nick protested.

“Hey, did I tell you?” Bobby said, changing the subject so abruptly that Nick just shook his head. “People are saying that Seiji’s secret lover is Jesse. Like,  _the_  Jesse Coste. Obviously it’s not true because that’s you. Right now, anyway.”

“What do you mean ‘right now?’” Nick asked suspiciously.

“Well,” Bobby said with a shrug. “There’s been rumors about them for ages, haven’t there? It’s common knowledge that Seiji and Jesse have history, we just don’t know what kind. Lots of people think they were…” he shrugged again, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

“That’s bullshit,” Nick said, much louder than he’d meant to. He adjusted his volume at a glare from the cashier. “There’s no way Seiji was with Jesse.” The thought made his blood boil.

“See?” Bobby leaned back, triumphant.

“What?”

“You were jealous, too. You should have seen your face! People don’t get that upset over their flings having been with other people.”


	6. Chapter 6

“You broke curfew,” Seiji informed him stonily the moment Nick was through the door. He looked as though he’d been waiting up for Nick, specifically to tell him off, arms crossed and sitting up primly in bed.

“No one at this school knows how to have fun. God, it’s not even  _hard_  to sneak out after curfew but you all still go to bed at 9:30 on the dot.”

“I should report you.”

Nick snorted. “You’ve literally never cared when I stayed out late before. You’re just pissy because I was out with Bobby.”

“And how  _was_  your date?” Seiji huffed, which made Nick laugh.

“Careful, Seiji, you’re starting to sound jealous.”

“Hardly,” Seiji sneered, though there was a definite hint of pink dusting his features.  _Interesting_. “I just don’t think frozen yogurt dates are a conductive use of time.”

“Stop calling it a date,” Nick sighed, dropping his stuff on the floor and pulling off his shoes. “Bobby and I aren’t like that, and you know it. And anyway, frozen yogurt ‘dates’ are very conducive to my happiness. But if you want to turn me in, I won’t stop you.”

“You should care more about your reputation, you realize. It could effect your place on the team.” Seiji seemed upset to not be getting a rise out of Nick, which encouraged him to be even less concerned with the issue.

“It’s sweet of you to worry for me,” he meant it to be sarcastic, but Seiji colored even further. “But a little bit of a reputation is a good thing, if you ask me. Like, people know who I am—the kind of guy who’s not afraid to get in trouble. You on the other hand…your reputation is so bland that no one knows who you are.”

“And yet everyone still presumes to know me, despite my best efforts.” Nick didn’t miss the bitterness in Seiji’s voice, though it was subtle, barely perceptible under the cold, detached way he had of saying anything. Nick knew what he meant. People weren’t quiet about their opinions on him. They’d say he had effortless talent, that he was lucky. They didn’t know that he woke up early to fence everyday, that he worked harder than anyone to gain that so called talent. They called him heartless and cruel. Nick was one of those voices when he first met Seiji. It was hard to see that Seiji wasn’t purposefully callus. That was just how he  _was_.

Nick stared at Seiji for a moment, considering. He’d never thought that Seiji cared what everyone said about him. Why should he? He was Seiji Katayama. He was brilliant. What did he need understanding from his peers for? Then, Nick thought of their first kiss. Of Seiji’s  _first_  kiss. The way Seiji’s hands had found their way to his back, unsure and shaking. He wasn’t a god. He was a teenager, as needing of reassurance as the rest of them.

“You just emit this energy that says ‘hey, I’ve got a stick up my ass.’” So, Nick wasn’t great at reassurance. “You just need to loosen up a bit and people wouldn’t villainize you so much. Probably.”

Seiji opened his mouth, poised to say something, but Nick crossed swiftly over to Seiji’s bed and climbed right on. Seiji froze, and Nick could see him swallow. Nick grinned in a way his mother used to call maniacal. Ever so carefully, he advanced on Seiji, hand coming closer and closer to the other boy’s face, as though to cradle it. Then, he pounced, diverting his hand into Seiji’s neatly arranged hair and mussing it up grandly.

“What—!” Seiji startled away from Nick, back hitting the wall but he couldn’t escape. Nick laughed uproariously as Seiji’s hands came up to try and bat Nick’s away from his hair. Nick was able to pin one of Seiji’s hands against the wall, but his remaining hand was captured by Seiji’s free one, finally pulled away from the now extremely messy hair it had been attacking. Seiji scowled at Nick accusingly, and it just made Nick laugh harder. Once he settled down, though, he took in his work.

“See? You don’t look like such a tool now,” Nick informed him. A pause, then, “you look really cute,” it was out of his mouth before he had time to stop it. Damned broken filter. But it was true, Seiji looked undeniably  _adorable_ with his hair tousled and a pout playing on his lips. Seiji just stared at him for a second, as though unable to believe Nick had  _said_  that. Well, that made two of them. Then another blush was creeping up his neck. He turned his head, still against the wall, and seemed to struggle a moment with what to say.

“Well?” He asked, quiet but with conviction. “Is that all you came here to do?”

“No,” Nick admitted, leaning in a breath closer to kiss Seiji’s neck. He wanted very much to softly bite the skin there, but he knew better. Nick contented himself with feeling Seiji’s breath hitch against his lips. “Are we going to end all our fights like this from now on?” Nick asked before kissing up Seiji’s neck, in no rush to kiss him. Not just yet. He had to hold it over Seiji for a moment. Because Seiji had practically begged for a kiss.

“I don’t—know—,” Seiji told him, squirming slightly, as though anxious or impatient. Nick suddenly wanted to see how much more Seiji would give. He lazily brought his eyes back up, level to Seiji’s, but still he didn’t kiss him.

“I think we should,” he told Seiji. “I like it better than fighting.”

“You would,” Seiji quipped. “You always lose our fights.”

“Hmm,” was all Nick said. Yes, he might lose all manner of fights with Seiji, but he wouldn’t lose during this. He decided then that he’d make Seiji work for it, if he really did want a kiss. And Nick was pleasantly vindicated in thinking that he did, because Seiji’s eyes kept darting down to his lips.

Nick rocked on his knees, moving a little further away from Seiji, who watched him go with a small frown, his grip on Nick’s right wrist tightening ever so slightly. A smile played across Nick’s lips and he raised an eyebrow at Seiji, who huffed and tugged Nick back to him. It was a solid pull, more irritated than playful. Way more irritated. He obviously had no patience for Nick’s games, which just made Nick want to play them even more. As he careened into Seiji, he pulled his hand free of the other boy’s grasp to catch himself. Seiji didn’t make any attempt to recapture his arm, so Nick wrapped it carefully around Seiji’s waist, making his back arch away from the wall as he did so.

He pressed the hand he still had pinned against the wall a little harder, which made Seiji’s head turn towards it, as though he’d forgotten it was there. Nick took this opportunity to lean in and kiss the tender skin just behind Seiji’s ear. Seiji shivered and Nick smiled, mouth still against skin.

“Seiji?” He asked.

“What?” It was breathy and low, like Nick had already kissed him senseless, though he’d done no such thing. Nick pulled his head away to look at Seiji.

“Do you want me to kiss you?” He asked and Seiji immediately turned his head away from Nick’s gaze again.

“I—don’t care,” he said stubbornly.

“You obviously want to  _be_  kissed. So do you want  _me_ to kiss you or does it not matter to you?”

“I don’t—,” Seiji started, anger seeming to replace impatience. “Why would I—?” Incomplete sentences and red cheeks. A rare combination to find on Seiji, though Nick was finding it much less rare than he’d once thought.

“Say you want me to kiss you,” he coaxed, “and I’ll kiss you.”

“I—,” he didn’t even attempt a real sentence, just growled to get his point across. Now Nick really couldn’t resist biting Seiji’s neck, still vibrating with displeasure, so lightly it was sure to leave no mark. It still made Seiji gasp.

“I want to kiss you,” Nick told him, pulling away from his neck to try and catch his eye. “All the time, recently.” It made Seiji go even redder, but this time he didn’t avert his eyes.

“Fine,” he snarled, “I want you to kiss me. Satisfied?”

“Not even close.” And finally, Nick kissed him. He pulled him to his chest while pushing him into the wall, and Seiji let him. He kissed Seiji mercilessly, hardly letting either of them come up for air. He kissed Seiji as though he had every right to. Because Seiji had said so himself. No hints or half-invitations. He’d said outright. Sure, Nick had bullied it out of him. But Seiji Katayama had admitted out loud that he wanted  _Nick_  to kiss him. Not Jesse or anyone else. Right now, with Seiji’s lips obediently moving against his, it felt like he was Nick’s.

Nick only wondered why he liked that so fucking much.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank all of you for your kind comments they make me want to die but in a really good way i love you all

“I should probably warn you,” Nick started, rolling over in bed and sitting up, causing Seiji to spin in alarm towards him. It was very unusual for Nick to be up in the morning to see Seiji off for his insane morning regime. “I meant to tell you yesterday, but I got distracted.”

Seiji eyed him suspiciously, “ _What_  did you mean to tell me?” Even in the dim light of the single lamp Seiji had turned on to see by, it was clear to Nick just how tense Seiji was. He wondered what the guy thought he was going to say. He shrugged nervously, not really looking forward to the news he had to share.

“I found out yesterday that there are some rumors circulating about you.” Nick said guiltily, and Seiji’s hand immediately shot up to cover the hickey that he sported high enough on his neck to draw attention. Nick considered apologizing again, but figured that Seiji was just as likely to get annoyed at him for doing so as anything else. “Just thought I’d give you a heads up.” Seiji slowly peeled his hand away from the mark and sighed.

“Not much I can do about it now, I suppose.” He went back to getting ready to leave and Nick watched him in amazement. He’d expected Seiji to be more upset. “I brought it upon myself for letting you kiss me. I should have known you’d do something like this.”  _This_ , Nick assumed, referred to the collage of hickeys he’d left behind as evidence of that kiss.

“Yeah,” Nick agreed with a grin. “You should have known better.” He almost added that he was glad Seiji somehow  _hadn’t_ known better, but bit off the words before they spilled from his big mouth. He didn’t even like that he’d thought them. What would Bobby have to say about a statement like that? Nick’s skin prickled uncomfortably at that, because he knew exactly what Bobby would say.

“Now that you’re up, you might as well come train with me. You could use the extra practice.”

“Hey! Watch your tone or I’ll make sure that hickey never fades.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“We both know I probably would.”

“You’re incorrigible,” Seiji huffed with a look of disgust in Nick’s direction.

“Wait,” Nick’s brain finally processed something. Something, all things considered, pretty incredible for how unexpected it was. “Did you just invite me to come fence with you?”

“You’re either stupid or a terrible listener. Or both.” But he seemed a little flustered.

“Yeah, okay. Give me a sec and I’ll be ready.”

Nick didn’t get up nearly as early as Seiji. Ever. Sometimes they’d run into each other in the gym during their separate morning routines, but the only acknowledgment Nick ever got from Seiji was a cool glance, if that. Seiji inviting him along felt special. Even more so because Seiji had every right to be upset with Nick about the rumors. So Nick didn’t mind giving up an extra forty-five minutes of sleep for this. He hurried to get ready before Seiji changed his mind and left him behind.

***

Nick was tired before school even started, and he found himself dozing a little in class. He didn’t know how Seiji did it. Getting up so early and working so hard at fencing. And a straight A student, to boot. He really was something else. A smile played at Nick’s lips for reasons unknown to him.

Even when he wasn’t napping, Nick’s mind was far from the lectures he was meant to be paying attention to. The object of most of his wanderings was Seiji. He couldn’t get over how nice Seiji had been that morning. Scarily nice, even. Sure, he’d made a ton of snide remarks about Nick’s technique, but he’d also corrected and helped him. It had endeared Seiji to him more than he’d have liked to admit. But Seiji really knew his stuff and had seriously helped Nick out, taking time out of his own practice to do so. A warm sensation rolled through Nick at the thought that Seiji liked him enough to do that.

“Nick,” Bobby hissed, elbowing him beneath the table. “Stop daydreaming about Seiji and pay attention.”  _That_  certainly got Nick’s attention. His head snapped toward Bobby and he could feel his face heat up under the smaller boy’s smirk.

“I was  _not_  daydreaming,” Nick protested.

“Please, you can’t lie to me.”

“And you can’t prove anything,” but they both knew the truth. Nick couldn’t help it, though. His mind just wouldn’t stop drifting back to Seiji. He’d wanted to pull Seiji in for a kiss about a dozen different times that morning. He’d exerted great self control in restraining himself. The least he deserved was a good daydream or two about kissing Seiji softly, or tousling his hair, or wrapping his arms around Seiji during one of his balance exercises, or kissing his throat as he took a swig of water— _oh, shit._ “I don’t like him,” Nick said out loud, though it was more to reassure himself than to convince Bobby.

“Just admit it and you’ll feel much better. You’re not the first one to be caught up in Seiji’s charm, there’s no reason to be ashamed.”

Nick bristled. “Seiji doesn’t  _have_  charm.”

“And if he did, you’d be the only one to see it, right?”

“Yes,” shit, “no!” But Bobby just cackled, waving a hand at Nick to shut him up. Nick slumped back in his seat, scowling at Bobby. Seiji was usually an asshole—despite his earlier show of pleasantness, it was still an irrefutable fact that he  _was_  an asshole. And who would be charmed by that? Only someone stupid enough to find it endearing.

***

Nick listened with half an ear to Eugene and Aiden, who were, once again, discussing the source of Seiji’s hickey. Seiji could likely hear them just as clearly as Nick could, but he ignored them. Nick watched Seiji’s neck with interest as he stretched and moved about, intent on catching a glimpse of the subject of conversation in the room. Every time he did, he felt a satisfying jolt in his stomach. He didn’t even bother trying to hide what he was doing from Seiji, who caught him staring several times and adjusted his collar with a sneer and increasing color. He really hadn’t meant to cause such a sensation at Seiji’s expense, but he really didn’t mind the idea that everyone knew Seiji was taken. Sure, they didn’t know by whom, but they knew that he was, and that was deeply satisfying to Nick.

Nick pursed his lips, realizing he’d just though of Seiji as belonging to him. And that was stupid. Seiji was a person and you couldn’t  _own_  other people…but you could lay claim to them, couldn’t you?  _And why,_  he thought,  _do I want to lay claim to Seiji?_

“You don’t really think it’s Jesse, do you?” Eugene was asking, and the question pulled Nick back into their conversation. “Seiji hates the guy.”

Aiden shrugged. “Seems just as likely as anyone else. More likely, because he doesn’t go here. Who could pass up the bragging rights to getting a piece of Seiji?” Aiden laughed, eyes trained on Seiji, who’d gone stiff at the comment.

“Give it a rest,” Nick snapped. Aiden loved getting a rise out of people. And while Nick was far from innocent when it came to teasing Seiji, he didn’t appreciate the discomfort in Seiji’s posture just then. Aiden glanced at him, considering. He shrugged before turning back to Eugene. Nick had a bad feeling about that look, though. How long until it came back to bite him in the ass?

“Anyway,” Aiden continued loudly. “You can’t blame him if it’s Jesse, can you?”

“Yeah,” Eugene shrugged, “Jesse’s not ugly.”

“No, he’s  _beautiful_ ,” Aiden practically purred. Nick felt anger rising. He noticed that he wasn’t the only one unhappy with Aiden’s admiration. Harvard had frozen in his stretches to glance at Aiden with a frown, too. “ _And_  he’s the top ranked fencer in individual épée in the country. An irresistible combination.”

“I guess.”

The conversation was killed by Coach, who called them in to get started. Nick and Aiden were paired, as were Harvard and Seiji, and Coach put Eugene on drills until a match had been won and he could be rotated in. Nick tried to let go of all his frustration. He was best at fencing when he didn’t get lost in his own head. And fencing was great at pulling him out of his own head. It was a circular relationship.

Aiden turned to Nick as they walked to their designated area and gave him a grin.  _Here we go._

“So,” he said casually, “you’re jealous of Jesse getting at Seiji before you could?”

“I—what?” Nick was completely caught off guard, which was probably Aiden’s intention. But Coach called for them to start before Aiden could go on further. Nick shook his head, coming back to the match in front of him. But he kept thinking about Jesse. And Seiji. And Jesse  _and_ Seiji. He didn’t want Jesse to have any sort of claim on Seiji, not as a rival, and certainly not as a secret lover, fake or otherwise.

“Jesse really is the complete package, don’t you think?” Aiden asked as he lunged at Nick. Startled, Nick fumbled his parry and Aiden scored with a vicious grin. “I bet Seiji only goes for the best,” he added. Nick felt his grip on the épée tighten and he had to consciously loosen it. Aiden was really getting under his skin. It continued like that for five minutes and twenty-three seconds. Nick lost 9-15. He felt like hurling his mask to the ground when he ripped it off, but he tucked it under his arm instead and bared his teeth at Aiden, bumping his shoulder as he passed to let Eugene have a turn against him.

Coach raised an eyebrow at him as he stormed past to work on drills, but she didn’t pursue him or comment on the way he’d lost his cool. He used his drill time to calm down and did better in his other matches that day. By the time they all shuffled to the locker rooms, worn out and dripping sweat, he was feeling entirely better.

“Who would have thought,” Aiden breathed into his ear, and Nick jumped. He had  _not_  expected that. “That your weak spot is Seiji?”

“My—Seiji? What are you talking about?” Nick edged away from Aiden.

“I’ve never been able to get to you before,” Aiden shrugged. “But you completely choked today, didn’t you? I’ve figured you out.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nick told him, trying not to show how cold his blood had gone. Aiden had noticed.  _What_ , exactly, he had noticed, Nick wasn’t sure. But it wasn’t something he wanted Aiden knowing.

***

“Hey, Seiji, wait up,” Nick called, following after Seiji’s retreating form. Seiji turned in surprise. Nick caught up to him and grabbed his arm to pull him into a side room. Seiji tugged his arm away from Nick and looked around the room with a raised eyebrow.

“Looking for a rematch, Cox?” Seiji asked, amused. Nick looked around too and realized that he recognized this room.

“I’ve got to ask you something,” Nick said, ignoring Seiji’s question.

“What is it?”

“ _Were_ you with Jesse?” Nick blurted out the question that had been nagging at him since last night.

“Are you asking me if we ever dated?” Seiji asked, dubious.

“Yeah. So? Did you?” Nick insisted. Seiji just stared at him.

“How stupid are you?” He asked at last. “You know full well that before you, I never—,” he paused, a flush blooming across his cheeks, and he wrinkled his nose at having to say it out loud. “You were my first  _anything_. You were the one to point that out in the first place.”

“What about a date?” Nick asked.

“Why should I tell you?” Seiji was getting impatient. Irritated.

“Because I asked?”

“Very convincing argument, bravo,” Seiji sneered. But he conceded, in the end. “No. I’ve never been on a date and I certainly have never been on one with Jesse.”

Relief crashed through Nick, but still he narrowed his eyes, hearing Aiden’s voice in his head. “Did you ever want to?  _Do_  you want to?” He was nervous to hear the answer, but he asked it anyway.

“Why do you care so much?” Seiji crossed his arms, his sports bag slipping off his shoulder and into the crook of his arm as he did so.

“Because I don’t want him to have you!” Nick barked. Then closed his eyes in horror. When he opened them again, they landed on Seiji, who looked entirely affronted by Nick’s outburst. Nick opened his mouth for damage control, but there wasn’t much he could do now.

“I don’t like Jesse,” Seiji said slowly. “I never have. And I thought that was pretty obvious.”

“You’re obsessed with him,” Nick pointed out quietly. He’d always hated Seiji’s obsession with his half-brother.

“Like you’re obsessed with me?” Seiji shot back. He shook his head with an air of condescension. “I don’t know what your deal is, Nicholas, but the only thing I want from Jesse is his defeat by my hand.”

It was Nick’s turn to stare at Seiji, completely at a loss on how to respond. Finally he settled on indignation. “You think I want more than that from you?” It was a question well deserving of the laughter it earned from Seiji.

“Don’t pretend this isn’t going to end with you shoving me up against some wall,” Seiji looked at Nick, as though in challenge. But, of course, the thought had crossed Nick’s mind. As it did pretty much every time he saw Seiji since he’d first allowed Nick to kiss him. So Nick didn’t bother denying it. Instead he smirked, taking a step closer to Seiji.

“And don’t pretend that you don’t want this to end that way.”

“I wasn’t,” Seiji said, allowing Nick to pull his arms from his chest and drop them to his sides. The sport bag fell to the floor with a careless  _thump._

Nick watched Seiji watching him. He brought a hand up to Seiji’s cheek and brushed it carefully with his knuckles. Then he passed his thumb over Seiji’s lips, at which Seiji shivered involuntarily. Nick needed more of this boy. So, so much more.

“I don’t know what it is you want from me,” Seiji said, catching Nick’s hand and pressing it into his cheek. “But I can see it in your eyes. The desire for something more than you  _should_  want from me.”


	8. Chapter 8

It amazed Nick how calm Seiji looked. Serious and composed, like he did when he assessed his next opponent on the piste. Nick couldn’t help but relish it a little, that Seiji was finally looking at him as though he were a serious challenge, someone worth studying and strategizing against. And, in direct contrast to that hard and calculating gaze, Seiji still held Nick’s hand against his cheek, warm and soft. Nick couldn’t fathom the reason behind this show of affection, couldn’t come up with a better reason than that Seiji had simply  _wanted_  to feel Nick’s hand on his cheek. But that made no sense.

And his accusation echoed in Nick’s head. What  _did_  he want from Seiji? He wanted to best him in fencing. But Seiji was right—that wasn’t all. He wanted Seiji’s eyes, his attention, all to himself. Wanted his lips, too. Wanted every word he said and every sound he made. He wanted Seiji’s hands, timid and uncertain, to reach for him. What did Nick want from Seiji? So much. Too much.

But he couldn’t think of all of that right now, not with Seiji holding to him with such determination. Right now there was one thing Nick wanted above it all. And it was easy enough to get. Nick offered Seiji his best devilish grin, at which Seiji grew noticeably more flustered. True to Seiji’s prediction, Nick couldn’t help but thrust Seiji backwards, causing him to stumble. Seiji flailed to regain his balance, but there really hadn’t been any need for that. Nick caught him. Of course he caught him. But Nick didn’t allow Seiji time to properly steady himself before driving him back a couple more steps. Seiji gasped, having bumped into a table piled with miscellaneous junk. Already teetering off balance, Seiji fell backward, sitting down hard on the table.

Nick stepped into the space between Seiji’s legs and readjusted an arm, bringing it around Seiji’s back. The other hand he let find its way back to Seiji’s cheek. It was, after all, where Seiji had wanted it. He figured he could oblige that, at least. Seiji got over his surprise quickly, wrapping his arms easily around Nick’s neck. So different than the first night Nick had kissed him. He liked this, too, though.

Nick wasted no time in kissing Seiji tonight. Seiji pulled himself closer into Nick as their lips met and Nick reacted by deepening the kiss. He never wanted to stop. He ran his hand up and down Seiji’s back, though he had no way of reaching skin. Fencing uniforms weren’t easy to slip underneath. But it sent a thrill through Nick, to be touching Seiji in full dress. Hadn’t his first fantasies of Seiji centered around the other boy looking just like he did now, in this same jacket? Well, maybe not  _just_  like this.

Nick bit Seiji’s lip carefully, pulling at it gently, just to prove to himself that he could. Because, in the end, the Seiji in front of him was so much better than the one he used to imagine. Seiji let out a satisfied hum and shifted even closer. Nick couldn’t resist him when he made sounds like that. As if by its own accord, his hand found Seiji’s thigh and hoisted it up to press against his hip. Seiji obediently wrapped his other leg around Nick with no further prompting.

“Fuck,” Nick muttered, the word getting lost in Seiji’s mouth. He pulled away just enough to take Seiji in. He realized with mild surprise that his hand had migrated from Seiji’s cheek into the hair at the nape of his neck.

“What?” Seiji asked, and Nick thought that he’d meant it to be biting, but it came out as nothing of the sort. Nick just shook his head, still taking in the sight before him. Seiji looked nothing short of beautiful.

“I don’t want anyone else to see you like this,” he said finally, and Seiji flushed, averting his eyes.

“Don’t be stupid,” Seiji said. Nick’s grip on Seiji’s thigh tightened, pulling it more securely against himself. Seiji colored even deeper, much to Nick’s satisfaction.

“Don’t show it to anyone else, okay?” Nick asked, brushing his lips against Seiji’s cheek.

“I keep telling you,” Seiji snapped, “I won’t.” Nick hadn’t expected that. Apparently, neither had Seiji, because, as Nick stared at him with shock, Seiji’s eyes went wide and his entire body stiffened against Nick. Nick recognized this look. He’d never seen it on Seiji before, but it was undeniably the look of someone about to bolt. Nick didn’t want him to bolt. But Seiji didn’t even try to make a break for it, instead he pressed his face into Nick’s shoulder with a groan. Nick really  _really_  didn’t understand Seiji. But he was starting to find that he wanted to.

“You were right,” Nick said carefully, looking down at Seiji’s head, nestled against him. It was impossible to deny the thudding of his heart and he was sure Seiji could hear it, too. “About what I want from you.” He thought Seiji probably deserved some sort of admission from him.

“So what  _do_  you want?” Seiji asked, pulling his head up to look at Nick with…something. Nick didn’t dare put a name on the expression.

“More,” was all Nick could manage. Seiji seemed to consider this, then he simply nodded.

“Alright,” he said and Nick was glad he hadn’t asked for a better explanation. Nick wasn’t ready to give him one. Not just now. And Seiji seemed to know that.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Why ask?” Seiji scoffed. Nick kissed him. He raked his fingers through Seiji’s stupidly perfect hair, pausing to tug it gently in hopes of getting one of those sounds that he loved out of Seiji. He did, and he kissed Seiji harder for it.

“Jesus Christ,” a voice rang from the now open door, causing Seiji and Nick to pull apart. “The same room, you guys, really? I mean, how many times am I going to walk in on you two here?”

Nick stared at Aiden in horror. He was showered and changed, probably coming to the supply room on a last minute errand from Coach. Nick could feel the blood draining from his face, and was glad for it. Seiji, on the other hand, was brilliantly red. Aiden settled in, leaning against the door with a jaunty posture, a smirk playing on his face.

“You really couldn’t have waited until you were back in your room? Come on, you have the perfect situation rooming together and you still can’t keep your hands to yourself long enough to make it there?”

“Fuck off,” Nick snapped. Aiden just raised an eyebrow, pointedly looking from Nick to Seiji, and Nick realized that he was still standing close enough to Seiji to kiss him. Again. Seiji seemed to notice the same thing, as he pushed Nick off of him and slid off the table. Nick kind of wished he hadn’t.

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Aiden told them. His eyes drifted to Seiji. More specifically, to the hickey on Seiji’s neck. “Who else could have given you  _that?_  You never leave school, you never hang out with people, you never do anything but school, fence, and sleep. Not exactly a hard puzzle to solve.” Aiden laughed. “Can you believe no one else could figure it out? But don’t feel bad Seiji, it was bound to happen. Nick’s been after you since day one. He’s persistent, isn’t he?”

“I have  _not_ ,” Nick protested, and he felt Seiji shift slightly farther away from him. Nick was furious with Aiden for barging in. Ten minutes ago, Seiji had been moving to be  _closer_  to Nick.

“Just because you were too stupid to realize you wanted Seiji, doesn’t mean you didn’t.”

“I didn’t—don’t,” Nick was unwilling to take Aiden’s taunts without a fight.

“Ah well,” Aiden shrugged. “There’s no need to look at me like that. I won’t tell anyone. If I was going to out you guys, I’d have done so already, don’t you think?”

“Thank you.” Nick turned in surprise to Seiji, who was bending down to retrieve his bag. Though he was still red, his face had become that of cool disinterest. “I appreciate your discretion, Aiden.” And then he brushed past Aiden and was gone.

“Don’t expect me to thank you,” Nick told Aiden with a glare.

“Hey, not my fault you only know one hook up spot.”

“We were not hooking up,” Nick tried. “We weren’t the first time, anyway,” he felt like he should set the record straight.

“I know,” Aiden rolled his eyes. “You’d better go get your stuff before Coach locks up. And then you’d better come up with something big to make it up to Seiji. If you’re not done with him, that is.”

“You make him sound disposable,” Nick said with disgust.

“Isn’t he? If you just need someone to kiss, one person’s as good as the next, right?”

“He’s not just someone to kiss,” Nick shot out without even thinking. But he’d meant it. Aiden smirked.

“I know that, too. But Seiji doesn’t. And your insistence that you don’t like him isn’t helping matters.”

Nick stared at Aiden, dumbfounded. Aiden winked. “I know a thing or two about relationships. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“I’m not saying thank you.”

“You don’t have to. Just get out, I’ve got things to do for Coach.”


	9. Chapter 9

When Nick made it back to his room, Seiji was already asleep. More accurately, the lights were off and Seiji was in bed, headphones on and eyes closed. Nick suspected he wasn’t actually asleep. But he didn’t call Seiji’s bluff. Nick couldn’t blame him for wanting the day to end, after their interruption earlier. He knew he’d have a lot of apologizing to do later, despite the fact that it was hardly his fault Aiden had walked in on them. But that wasn’t even all of the problem, according to Aiden. Nick sighed heavily, forgoing a shower in favor of dropping into his own bed and falling into an uneasy sleep.

Seiji was gone when Nick woke up, and he felt a pang of regret despite himself. He laughed at himself, bitter and harsh. “What did you expect?” He asked aloud. “Did you think he’d wake you up for practice?” He hated that a part of him  _had_ thought that. Or, if not  _thought_ , than  _hoped_. Yesterday seemed like another reality. A reality in which he and Seiji went to early morning work outs and practices together. Where Seiji honestly and sincerely helped him. Where Seiji seemed to be unable to get close enough to him. Nick shivered, mind drifting to that particular impossibility. He remembered Seiji pressing against him, arms holding tight around his neck, legs wrapped around his body, remembered how he kept shifting closer and closer…And now they were back to square one.

Nick tried to catch Seiji’s eye all day, but he was having none of it. Bobby worriedly eyed him all through lunch, but Nick wasn’t in the mood to talk. Not even to Bobby. Aiden had ruined everything. If he had just kept his nose out of their damn business, he and Seiji would be—what? What were he and Seiji, usually? He wasn’t sure, but if Aiden hadn’t walked in when he did, they wouldn’t be fighting. Were they fighting? Nick wasn’t sure of that either. But he knew Seiji was upset. And he didn’t know how to fix it, especially when Seiji was ignoring him.

“I’m sorry,” he tried, finally cornering Seiji during a break in practice. Seiji just gave him a cool stare.

“Sorry for what?” He asked, eyes narrowing. Nick swallowed. He could tell that there was a right answer to this question. But he didn’t know it.

“That Aiden—,” this had, apparently, been the wrong answer. Seiji slid his mask back on and started walking away. “I know I was stupid,” Nick tried again, following after Seiji. “I should have known better than to use that room.” He reached out and took Seiji’s arm, holding loosely. “I’m really sorry, Seiji.”

“I don’t care,” Seiji’s voice was even and cold and he shook off Nick’s hand with a sneer evident even through his mask. “Your apology is worthless.” He took a step closer to Nick then, but not a forgiving step. A hard advance. “And  _don’t_  talk about any of  _that_  here. I don’t need any more gossip because of your inability to leave me alone.”

Stung, Nick took a step back. Seiji spun on his heel and left Nick to watch him go.

***

They fell into a new routine, he and Seiji. Nick would wake up to an empty room. They’d ignore each other anytime their paths crossed during the day, though Seiji seemed to have worked out the timing so that they only met during mandatory fencing practice. Nick would stay and shower in the locker rooms, Seiji would not. And when Nick got back to their room, Seiji would be tucked in bed.

It had gone on like that for over a week and it was driving Nick mad. He thought he might be going through withdrawals. He missed Seiji’s skin under his fingers, missed Seiji’s lips against his own, missed his body pressed in close. But Seiji had made it clear that he found Nick’s  _inability to leave him alone_  to be offensive. So, Seiji wanted Nick to leave him alone? Fine. He could do that.

“What’s wrong with you?” Bobby kept asking. “Did something happen with Seiji? You look terrible.” But Nick deflected and avoided and, sometimes, flat out ignored the questions.

“You’d better fix it soon,” Aiden would taunt him during practice. “You wouldn’t want to lose him.” But Nick tuned him out. What did Aiden know? Aiden seemed to think he knew a lot. He’d thought he knew it all, back when he’d walked in on them almost two weeks ago, too. Nick ignored it all.

Nick had stayed late after practice in hopes of clearing his mind. It hadn’t worked, and neither had the long shower he took before heading back to the dorms. The moon was full and entirely visible in the night sky as he walked between buildings. Nick realized that he was out past curfew again, and he smiled, thinking of the last time he’d broken it. Seiji had stayed up to scold him like a worried mother. Or a party-pooping roommate. Whichever. He opened the door to his room with another heavy sigh, knowing that no one would be waiting up for him tonight. Sure enough, the room was dark and quiet and he took care when entering. He’d been out so late he knew Seiji was very likely asleep in actuality this time.

The light of the moon shone through their window and caught on Seiji as if it, like Nick, couldn’t tear its gaze from him. Nick set his bag down as silently as he could and then quietly, cautiously made the treacherous journey across the curtain to get another look at Seiji. His headphones, which Nick knew he used mostly to block noise and rarely to play music, had been knocked askew at some point. And his face was so peaceful that Nick was positive he was asleep. It made him realize two things, standing there and staring at Seiji. One was that Seiji’s face had been pinched and tired, stuck in a glare even more prominent than his usual resting face whenever Nick had caught a glimpse of him recently.Nick hated to think that he’d been the cause of it, but he suspected that he was. He looked so…content, so tranquil in sleep that it made Nick feel oddly sad. He didn’t want sleep to be the only time Seiji found peace. The second thing he noticed was how much…

“I’ve missed you,” Nick said, quiet as breath. Looking down at Seiji, he felt some crucial walls inside him start to break in earnest.

 _He’s not just someone to kiss_ , Nick had told Aiden without hesitation, despite the fact that he’d been telling Bobby the exact  _opposite_  for days. He knew he had to deal with that. He knew that now was probably the time to deal with that. Nick reached out, unthinking, and slid his fingers through Seiji’s soft hair. He stood there for a moment, unwilling to bring his hand away, and finally let in the reality he’d been fighting off for so long.

He liked Seiji Katayama. He liked Seiji so much that it hurt not being able to touch him. Hurt to take his hand away and retire to his own bed, knowing he might have irreparably messed things up with Seiji already.

***

Nick awoke, once again, to Seiji’s neatly made bed. He remembered how, at the beginning of the year, the sight had made him ecstatic. Now he felt a dull ache in his chest even more prominent than before. His eyes lingered on Seiji’s immaculate half of the room for another moment, then snagged on an out of place item. Seiji’s headphones were on the floor, half concealed under the bed and twisted slightly out of shape. Frowning, Nick picked up the offending mess and straightened it out, placing it carefully on Seiji’s pillow. It was unlike Seiji to leave anything out of its proper place. Even as he left the room, Nick looked back once more at the headphones, something about them tugging at him. He ignored it, and by the time he was taking notes—doodling, really—in his first class, he’d already forgotten about them.

At lunch, he gratefully slid into his seat and slumped over the table, resting his head on his arms. Thoughts of Seiji had been knocking around in his head all morning. It wasn’t the first time it’d happened, to be sure. He used to think of how annoying and full of himself Seiji was, used to daydream about beating him. Then his thoughts had taken a surprising turn after a kiss he’d thought he only took for its novelty. Even now, he couldn’t banish images of Seiji’s lips, pink and parted, beckoning him in for another kiss, or his soft sounds and softer hair, of his perfect body beneath Nick’s…But now, it was beyond that. He kept thinking of Seiji’s smiles—the sardonic ones Seiji was most fond of giving, the small, self-satisfied ones Nick would catch occasionally after Seiji had won a match, and the fierce one he’d often wear while fencing. Nick had never seen a soft, genuinely pleased smile from Seiji. Had never heard a full and happy laugh from him, either. And he wanted to. He wanted to be the cause of that smile, of that laugh.

“Nicholas, I love you, but you’re seriously bumming me out,” Bobby told him. Nick was surprised Bobby had come to their table at all. He’d been anything but pleasant company as of late.

“I’m not trying to,” was all Nick gave in response. Bobby swatted him on the head, harder than a playful tap. “Hey!” Nick sat up, glaring at Bobby as he rubbed at his head.

“You deserved it,” Bobby huffed, hands on hips as he stood, looming over Nick. “You’ve been moping for too long and you won’t even talk to me about it. I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong!”

“You’re right,” Nick said. “I’m sorry.”

“So, are you going to tell me what’s up?”

“Same thing that’s always up,” Nick said with a glance towards Seiji, only two tables from them.

“Yeah, no duh.” Bobby rolled his eyes. “I  _mean,_  what’d you do now?” 

“I’m…not sure?” Nick got a  _look_  from Bobby for that. “I thought he was mad because Aiden—,” how to put this delicately? “Found us out,” he decided on. Bobby’s eyes went wide.

“I bet Seiji wasn’t happy about that,” Bobby nodded, thankfully not pressing for details on  _how_  Aiden found out. Yet, anyway.

“No,” Nick agreed, then sighed for the hundredth time that day. “But when I tried to apologize for it, he got even madder.” Something Aiden had said that night in the supply room kept bidding for attention in his mind, but he kept pushing it away. Because Aiden didn’t know anything.

“Hm,” Bobby said, thoughtful. “You’re not telling me everything. What did you do?”

“I’m not  _not_  telling you everything,” Nick was getting defensive, “It’s just not important.” But under Bobby’s disapproving stare, he shrugged self consciously and tried again. “Aiden likes to poke fun at people.”

“Yeah? And?”

“Well, when he, uh, walked in on us, he started saying all this stuff and I told him to fuck off.”

“And Seiji’s mad because of that why?”

“Aiden might have said something about how I liked Seiji,” Nick mumbled, looking down at his feet. “And I…”

“Told him to fuck off?” Bobby sighed. “Oh, Nick. Did you directly refute him? In front of Seiji?”

“I—yeah. So?” Nick was fully defensive now. Bobby was looking at him almost pityingly.

“You really are dense, huh?”

“Hey!” Nick protested, but Bobby just shook his head like he was disappointed. Finally, Aiden’s words surfaced in his mind. Right after Nick had snapped at him, saying that Seiji wasn’t some disposable fuck buddy to him, Aiden had replied: _I know that, too. But Seiji doesn’t. And your insistence that you don’t like him isn’t helping matters._  Nick frowned just thinking of that nosy asshole’s assessment of the situation. “That can’t be right,” he said out loud. Because he was sure Bobby had come to a similar conclusion as Aiden.

“Seiji has feelings too, Nick. They can get hurt.”

“I know he has feelings,” Nick scoffed. “He just doesn’t have them for me.”

“Oh.” Understanding seemed to dawn on Bobby. “Is  _that_  really why you’re making this so difficult?”

“What?” Nick asked, a little testily.

“You’re selling yourself short, aren’t you? Too caught up in self-pity to see your own value.”

“I’m not self-pitying,” Nick broke in.

“Too self-deprecating, then. But, listen, you need to get over yourself and accept that Seiji  _likes_  you. The sooner you go apologize to him and secure your relationship, the sooner he can stop glaring at me every time we see each other! If he just knew that you liked  _him_  best, he wouldn’t be so jealous about me.”

“But what if you’re wrong?” Nick burst, then lowered his voice. “What if I go say  _hey, sorry I said I didn’t like you, that was a lie_  and he doesn’t like me. I’d look like an idiot.” Bobby was staring at him like he’d grown a new head, and Nick went back over what he’d said.  _Shit._ He’d just admitted everything, hadn’t he? A smile crept across Bobby’s face, in perfect sync with the flush spreading across Nick’s.

“Nick,” Bobby said seriously, “since when do you care about looking like an idiot?” Nick couldn’t help but let out a startled laugh. Strangely, he felt his bad mood beginning to lift. After all, what was the worst that could happen if he confessed? It couldn’t be any worse than their current situation, could it? “Feel better?” Bobby asked.

“Yeah,” Nick grinned up at Bobby. “I do. Thanks.”

“See? Next time, don’t shut me out,” and Bobby punched Nick’s shoulder lightly. Nick laughed again, standing and collecting Bobby up into a big bear hug.

“I’m sorry, forgive me?” Nick grinned at Bobby’s wild giggling as Nick swung him back and forth like a pendulum. “You really are short.” He said, which earned him a kick. But he was in a good mood, and a little kick wasn’t about to put an end to it. But a glare could.

Nick met Seiji’s eyes, mid swing and his smile froze. Seiji looked furious. And something else too. Something that Nick thought might be hurt. Nick’s smile fell away, and he hastened to put Bobby back down. But when he looked back to Seiji’s spot, he saw that he’d already collected his things and left. Scanning the cafeteria, Nick found Seiji, heading for one of the doors. Nick grabbed his bag and darted after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bet you all thought Nick was going to fix things this chapter, huh? jokes on you. you severely underestimated Nick's dumbassery


	10. Chapter 10

Seiji was fast, as it turned out, and had managed to disappear by the time Nick had made it out of the cafeteria.

“Shit,” Nick cursed, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. He weighed his options and chose what he thought was the most likely path to Seiji. He didn’t just walk at a brisk, dignified pace, as he was sure Seiji had. No, Nick booked it. He caught up to Seiji in the hall to their room and felt like crying out with relief that he’d guessed right, but he held it in, instead trying to adopt a casual tone.

“Stupid place to hide from me,” Nick said, catching Seiji’s attention for the first time, despite his heavy breathing from jogging here. “Our shared room isn’t exactly…private. Or, I don’t know, without the risk of me turning up.”

Seiji didn’t respond, just as he hadn’t for days. He only shot Nick a glare and kept walking. Asshole. Nick’s irritation level was running high. He wanted to start a shouting match, to  _force_  Seiji to pay attention to him. He tried to push away the urge—he knew it would get him nowhere. Hell, it would put their relationship even further back than it was now. But his aggravation didn’t waver until he saw the faint sings of a blush across the back of Seiji’s neck. Either he was embarrassed to have been called on his abysmal hiding skills, or…Nick quickened his steps to come even with Seiji. Because it was just possible that Seiji had meant for Nick to follow. Had wanted Nick to catch him.

“With Bobby,” Nick started, cautious of being shut down again. When he wasn’t, he kept going. “In the lunchroom, that wasn’t anything. We’re just like that,” Nick tried to explain, unable to come up with a way to articulate what he and Bobby  _were_  like, exactly. “I know I’ve told you before, but he’s my best friend. I love him, but I definitely  _don’t_  want to date him. And, just so you know, he’s practically taken, anyway. Not that it would change anything if he and Dante weren’t—whatever they are. I just feel comfortable with Bobby,” Nick shrugged, “Which means that sometimes I don’t think about how what we’re doing might look to other people.”

“It’s well within your rights to have whatever relationship you want with Bobby,” Seiji said, and Nick let out an exasperated growl. He grabbed Seiji’s wrist, spinning him towards him and halting them both, only a room away from their own door.

“I don’t fucking like Bobby! How can you think that I do?” It was a rhetorical question, but Seiji started listing things off on his fingers.

“If you’re not talking to him, than you’re talking about him. You go out past curfew for frozen yogurt dates with him. You’ve always got this disgustingly soft look in your eyes when you’re with him. And you hugged him without a care in the world. To me, those all sound like things you do with someone you like, wouldn’t you agree?”

“No,” Nick was incredulous. “No, of course I wouldn’t agree. I talk to Bobby because that’s a normal friend thing to do. I don’t talk about him any more than I do any of my friends, except with you because  _you’ve_  got a grudge against him.” Nick was ticking off Seiji’s points on his own hand now, countering each one. “And I’ll take you on a proper frozen yogurt date sometime, if it’ll make you shut up about that. Because Bobby and I only went out as friends. We only  _ever_  go out as friends. And we only ever hug as friends.” Nick was sputtering down to a halt, losing track of what he’d already addressed. “And half the stuff Bobby and I talk about is somehow about  _you_ , anyway.” He frowned. He’d already gone over that point. He was missing one. But he couldn’t remember it just then, and the adorably perplexed look on Seiji’s face wasn’t helping his mind focus. Then his expression hardened.

“Not surprising,” Seiji said, which surprised Nick very much. “Your obsession with beating me, pathetic as it is,  _would_  lead to a lot of conversations fixated on me.” And he yanked away, striding purposefully to their room, unlocking the door, and slipping in. Nick caught the door before it shut, storming in right after Seiji, irate at his seemingly intentional misinterpretation of everything Nick did. He ran right into Seiji, not having expected him to stop only a few steps into the room. The door banged shut behind him, and Nick sidestepped, intent on seeing what had compelled Seiji to stop in such a stupid place.

“Oh, yeah,” Nick said, following Seiji’s gaze to a pair of black headphones, carefully arranged on Seiji’s pillow. “I noticed them on the floor this morning. And you say  _I’m_ messy,” Nick grinned, finding his anger once again draining from him. “I must be a bad influence on you.” But Seiji didn’t respond, or give any indication that he’d heard Nick at all. Nick glanced at him curiously, only to find Seiji was beet red. Then he walked swiftly to the headphones and shoved them into their proper nook hurriedly. Like he was trying to hide evidence— _oh._

“You were awake last night,” Nick realized. Seiji crossed his arms defensively.

“You missed curfew.  _Again_.”

“You were waiting up for me,” Nick could feel the grin growing on his face. “That’s why your headphones were wonky—you’d just put the damn things on when you heard me coming in so that I wouldn’t know you’d waited up for me.  _Again._ ” And that explained why they’d been haphazardly thrown to the floor, too. Actually, looking at him, Seiji seemed to have shadows under his eyes, like he’d had a restless night.

“Don’t,” Seiji warned, somehow sensing that Nick was about to point this all out. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, he seemed to give up any pretense. “And what are you doing, anyway, touching people while they sleep?”

“You make it sound like I molested you,” Nick said, disgruntled. “And you had it coming. I couldn’t get you to talk to me at all when you were awake. You left me with no choice but to talk to you when you were asleep. Or trapped in your lie, pretending to be asleep.” But Nick did feel a bit bashful to think that Seiji had been awake the whole time. To think that Seiji had been alert under his hand as he came to terms with his feelings.

“You’re right,” Seiji said, surprising Nick again. “I’m not talking to you.” Nick was about to make a comment about how petty Seiji was being, but he suddenly remembered the accusation he’d forgotten to refute.

_You’ve always got this disgustingly soft look in your eyes when you’re with him._

“Seiji?” Nick wasn’t surprised when Seiji didn’t acknowledge him. “You said—back in the supply room, you said that you could see it in my eyes that I wanted something from you. What do you think that is?”

“I think,” Seiji said bitterly, “that you want anything you can get from me so you can hold it over me when you get what you want most. Not that you’ll ever be skilled enough to take it.” Nick shook his head slowly, feeling vaguely sick. Seiji had so concisely and ruthlessly described the desires Nick had started this whole thing with. And to hear it said back to him now hurt.

“I don’t think it’s skill I need, to get what I want most from you,” Nick said quietly, forcing himself to meet Seiji’s eyes for this. “You say I look at Bobby softly and you’re probably right. I look at him like that because it’s so easy and comfortable with him, I don’t ever need to worry about losing him. I look at him softly because when I see him, I don’t feel the need for something more. It’s different with you, because I don’t want to be friends,” Nick noticed Seiji flinch at the words, and he felt that ache in his chest again. “I just want you. In more ways than I’ve ever wanted anyone. It scares me, a little. And I think that it all probably shows in my eyes when I look at you. And…I’m sorry. For a lot of things. I’m sorry I made you think that I only wanted to kiss you for some sort of trophy. I’m sorry  _I_  thought I wanted to kiss you for that. And I’m sorry about what I said to Aiden. I didn’t mean it.” Seiji was staring at him now, more shocked than he had been when Nick had first landed a point on him. Nick tentatively took one of Seiji’s hands in his. “I like you.” And it felt so good to say that Nick laughed a little. “I like  _you_. Not Bobby. And I’m sorry I didn’t handle Aiden well.”

“You never handle anything well,” Seiji sniped, but Nick didn’t take offense. It was hard to be offended when Seiji was so prettily flushed.

“Will you forgive me?” Nick asked, bringing Seiji’s hand to his mouth and pressing a kiss to it.

“Ice cream,” Seiji said, bewildering Nick. “I’d rather you take me out for ice cream than frozen yogurt.”

Nick laughed, relieved and delighted. “That can be arranged.” And he pulled Seiji to him for the first time in too damn long and kissed him.


	11. Chapter 11

Nick stared at Seiji in wonder as he took a bite of his sundae monstrosity. He would have never pegged Seiji as a triple fudge sundae kind of guy. And the whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles on top?

“Adorable,” Nick said, completely neglecting his own rocky road in favor of watching Seiji. Seiji froze, narrowing his eyes at Nick.

“What did you just say?” Obviously, Seiji expected Nick to take it back or cover it up.

“I was just saying how adorable you are,” Nick told him with a grin. Seiji went instantly pink.

“If you  _ever_  mention this to anyone, I will end you.”

“I wouldn’t!” Nick protested in earnest. “I can’t let anyone else know how cute you are, can I?”

“And cut  _that_  out too,” Seiji insisted with a frown.

“What? Calling you cute? Would you rather I call you something else, then? Because I have tons of things that could work. Beautiful, sexy, alluring, handsome, pretty, hot, asshole,” Nick cracked up at Seiji’s face, redder than the cherry on his sundae.

“Why can’t you—,”

“Leave you alone?” Nick asked with a raised eyebrow, and Seiji ducked his head back down to his ice cream. “I’ve got an inability to do that, remember? And it’ll probably cause a lot more gossip in the future.” But then Seiji’s accusation came back to him:  _I don’t need any more gossip because of your inability to leave me alone._ It still felt like a blow to the stomach, but Nick forced himself to considered it for a moment, before slowly starting his proposal. “If you want, I’ll be hands off in public. Aiden can be the only one to know. The rumors will fade soon, anyway. That hickey’s all gone, so as long as we—okay, I—don’t give them anything new to talk about…” Nick trailed off at the angry expression Seiji wore.  _What_ , he wondered,  _have I done wrong now?_

“You want to keep this a secret?”

“Me? No, but don’t you? I mean, you said so yourself, my obsession with you is irritating and troublesome, right?” He hadn’t meant to sound so bitter. “Just, I don’t want you to hate me because of rumors and shit. I mean, we’re good now, right?”

“People are always talking about me,” Seiji said, eyes still fixed on his sundae. “It doesn’t bother me much anymore.”

“But you said—,”

“I was mad,” Seiji snapped. “When I said that, I was mad. I don’t mind it. Your fixation with me.”

“Oh,” Nick said, floored by this new information.

“And…” Seiji took a small bite of his ice cream, but it couldn’t hide his embarrassment. “I’ve never been on a date before. But I thought this was one? A date.”

“Yeah,” Nick responded at once, a warm feeling overcoming him. He was taking Seiji on his first ever date. It was a better feeling than he’d have imagined. “This  _is_  a date. I already told you, I like you. A lot. I just thought you wouldn’t want anyone to know about us.”  _About me,_  he really meant, but didn’t say.

“I’m sorry if I mislead you,” Seiji started, and Nick’s entire stomach turned to ash. That was never a good prelude to anything. “But I want—,” he jabbed at his ice cream again, stalling what he was going to say. Nick wished he’d get on with it. Seiji looked at him then, and his face was as flushed as Nick’s was devoid of color. “I want to date you. I don’t want to be a secret,” he paused, thinking. “And I don’t want you to be one either. I’m not—not ashamed to like you.”

“Oh, thank fuck,” Nick finally took in a deep, shuddering breath. “I thought you were breaking up with me—wait…did you just say you  _like_  me?” Nick asked, stunned.

“I said it before, didn’t I? I would have stopped you from doing anything I didn’t like.”

“Right, but liking some _thing_  is different from liking  _someone_ ,” Nick pointed out, Seiji’s confession still not having completely sunk in. Seiji colored a shade deeper.

“How was I supposed to know that?” He snipped, defensive. “I don’t know the first thing about any of this.” Nick stared at him, eyes as wide as they could go.

“You mean,” Nick breathed, “since the beginning…?”

“I’m done talking about this.” And he dug into his ice cream with renewed energy. Nick felt the delight flush through him as it all sunk in. Seiji liked him.  _Had_  liked him for a longer time than Nick would ever have thought possible.  _I’m not ashamed to like you._  Nick couldn’t believe that Seiji had actually said that. He smiled with absolute happiness.

“Let me try a bite of yours,” Nick said, stealing a spoonful of Seiji’s sundae before he could be stopped.

“Hey,” Seiji whacked him with his spoon as he made his speedy escape. “Touch my sundae again and I  _will_  break up with you,” he warned.

“No, you won’t,” Nick laughed.

When they’d both finished their ice cream, Nick held the door out for Seiji and then fell into step beside him as they walked back to Kings Row.

“So, we’re exclusive, yeah?” Nick clarified. Seiji nodded. “And public?” Again, Seiji nodded. But he was distracted. Nick followed his gaze and found that Seiji kept glancing at his hand. Nick smiled and he knew that Bobby would accuse it of being a tender smile, but he didn’t care. He easily laced his fingers through Seiji’s and held just tight enough to let Seiji know he was unlikely to let go anytime soon.

When Nick looked back to Seiji’s face, he almost stopped dead. Because there was that smile Nick had wanted to draw out of him. Soft and sincere, it was the most beautiful smile Nick had ever seen.

He didn’t drop Seiji’s hand until they were back in their room, twenty minutes before curfew. Nick had rolled his eyes at Seiji’s instance on making curfew, but it was no less than he’d expected, really. He shed his jacket, already overheating. He considered kicking off his pants, too, but decided that would alarm Seiji a little too much for tonight. At least he was in one of his black tees instead of layered into his school uniform. 

“So,” Nick started, and Seiji’s eyes were already narrowed in suspicion, so Nick knew he’d seen his nefarious intentions written on his face. “Now that we’re dating,” Nick got a little thrill from saying it. “I don’t suppose I’m allowed to replace that hickey?” He asked, innocently as possible. Seiji glowered, only flushing slightly.

“Just because I don’t intend to hide our relationship does  _not_  mean I want the whole school knowing what we’ve been doing,” Seiji informed him.

“Fine, fine,” Nick laughed. “Didn’t think you’d let me, anyway.” Then something occurred to him. “Hey, I’m really sorry about taking advantage of you when I took your first kiss. I mean, I didn’t know about your feelings, but still. That was shitty of me.”

“Nick,” Seiji sighed. “How many times do you want me to tell you it’s fine? I’m starting to think you just like hearing me say I enjoyed it.”

“Oh, I definitely do,” Nick laughed, but sobered up again fast. “I just want to make sure you know that I’m sorry.”

“I know you are,” Seiji said. “But I’m not. So stop worrying about it.”

“Okay,” Nick said, smiling as he plopped down on Seiji’s bed, watching as Seiji went about putting each layer of his ensemble away. Seiji, Nick now knew, got cold easily. And as a result, had worn a jacket, a sweater, and a long sleeved outer shirt on their date tonight. And it wasn’t even  _that_  cold a night. Nick had been fine in his thin hoodie. But, then again, he was on the opposite side of the spectrum as Seiji. He overheated  _fast_.

“Wear the stretched shirt instead,” Nick told him as Seiji pulled out his usual pajamas. Seiji shot him a confused glance. “The shirt with the stretched out collar,” Nick said again. “Wear that one tonight instead.” Seiji scoffed, but returned his blue pajamas to their drawer and pulled out sweat pants and the shirt Nick had requested instead. He disappeared into the bathroom to change and when he emerged again Nick smiled triumphantly.

“I shouldn’t indulge you,” Seiji sighed, as though talking to a child to whom he’d just given candy after bedtime.

“I’m glad you do,” Nick grabbed Seiji’s hand again and pulled him over so that he was standing in front of Nick. “You look really cute in this shirt,” he said, before remembering Seiji’s dissatisfaction with the label at the diner. “Sorry. You look really  _good_  in it,” he corrected.

“I don’t mind it,” Seiji said, fidgeting. “When you call me cute, I don’t really mind it. I just don’t understand it.”

“Which is part of of your charm,” Nick said seriously, slipping both hands up the back of Seiji’s shirt, pressing them firmly against his back and driving him forward, even closer to Nick.

“Nick—,” Seiji said, running out of space to step, while Nick still herded him on.

“You know what to do,” Nick challenged and Seiji went deliciously pink. But as Nick moved his hands to either of Seiji’s sides and tugged, Seiji obediently climbed up onto Nick’s lap. Seiji brought his arms to settle around Nick’s neck again, and Nick slid one hand from the warmth of Seiji’s skin to find the back of his head and press him in closer. Seiji opened his mouth agains Nick’s, and Nick gladly took the invitation. Seiji was becoming more confident in these things, and Nick couldn’t get enough of it. Of  _him_. Still, when he ran his hand up the front of Seiji’s shirt, across bare stomach and ribs and chest and down again and a tremor ran through Seiji’s body, Nick’s stomach flipped with pleasure. There was something so gratifying about making Seiji shudder and shake.

Nick tugged at the bottom hem of Seiji’s shirt, teasing it upward. A question. Seiji broke away from Nick’s lips, panting hard, and looked at him with a small smile. Nick wanted every smile Seiji had to offer. He smiled back, tugging the shirt up another centimeter.

“I thought you liked me in this shirt?” Seiji teased.

“I do,” Nick assured him. “And I’ll be happy to see you in it again  _after_  I take it off right now.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Seiji huffed, but unwrapped his arms from Nick and allowed him to pull off the shirt.

“And you’re gorgeous,” Nick said, admiring Seiji’s perfect form. Seiji flushed so deeply that even his collar bones were dusted with color. Nick eyed the sight, and Seiji seemed to read his mind.

“Nothing above the shoulders,” Seiji reminded him with a disapproving gaze. Nick sighed.

“Yeah, I know. I wouldn’t.” So he kissed Seiji’s collar bone instead of biting it, then kissed a path down further to where he was allowed to mark up skin. He left a smattering of hickeys across Seiji’s chest before leaning back to admire it. He could feel the roar of approval and satisfaction from that monster in his stomach that had driven him to do this same thing weeks ago. “I know you’re not an object,” Nick said, and Seiji let out a surprised laugh.

“Astute observation, Nicholas,” he said. Nick decided he’d have to work harder to get more of those laughs from Seiji. But later, not now.

“Shut up, I was just letting you know that I don’t think of you as a thing or something that can be possessed or anything—,”

“Thanks,” Seiji said, wry smile still in place.

“But I like to think that you’re mine. Even just a little bit.” Nick traced a finger along a line of hickeys, so lightly that Seiji shivered again. Or maybe it was his words that had caused it, Nick wasn’t sure.

“That’s fine,” was all Seiji offered in response, but he tightened his hold around Nick, pressing himself entirely against Nick and resting his head on his shoulder. Nick wrapped his arms around Seiji’s back and held him tightly. He wanted to memorize this moment, with Seiji in his arms and the calm happiness between them. He kissed lightly across Seiji’s shoulder and with each kiss, Seiji moved the tiniest bit—shifting closer, holding tighter, or pressing fingers ever so slightly harder into Nick’s back.

It was a long time before Nick was ready to let the moment pass. “I’d like to kiss you,” he said.

“My legs are sore,” Seiji answered, which confused Nick momentarily. Then he remembered that Seiji was straddling his lap, legs tucked under him in a position that was bound to get uncomfortable eventually. Nick thought about telling him to readjust, but in the end, went a different route. Nick hoisted Seiji, who gave a small yelp at the sudden movement, and flipped them around so Seiji lay sprawled on his back. He stared up at Nick with wide eyes for a moment before the blush set in.

“Better?” Nick asked, lowering himself down to kiss Seiji’s exposed neck.

“I thought you wanted to kiss me,” Seiji said instead of answering. Nick smiled, lips still against fragile skin he’d been forbidden to bite.

“I  _am_  kissing you.” Nick pointed out to a very unimpressed Seiji.

“Nick.” It wasn’t a proper plea, but Nick knew those would be hard to come by. And, by Seiji’s standards, this  _was_  actually akin to asking for a kiss. And Nick wasn’t in the mood to tease Seiji too much tonight. So he answered the summons and kissed Seiji, tangling a hand in his hair. Seiji made a pleased sound in the back of his throat and brought his arms to hold onto Nick’s back. And it all felt so much like that first night. And so different, too.


	12. Chapter 12

Nick watched Seiji retrieve his shirt from the floor and tug it back on. He really did love that worn shirt on Seiji a ludicrous amount. Seiji rolled his eyes at Nick when he caught him watching, but Nick just smiled in return, settled happily on Seiji’s bed.

“Out,” Seiji said, once he’d smoothed the wrinkles from his shirt and combed his fingers through his hair, though it didn’t fall neatly back into place tonight. Nick had made sure of that.

“Do I have to?” Nick implored.

“Get out of my bed? Yes, I’d say so. I need it to sleep in.”

“Can’t I stay?”

“What?” Seiji stared at him with such incredulity it made Nick laugh a bit. “You mean you want to stay— _in my bed_ —all night?”

“Uh,” Nick scratched his head, “yeah?”

“You have no class, no propriety, no tact, no  _manners—,”_ Seiji could have gone on for ages, Nick was sure, but he interrupted the tirade there.

“Can’t I?” He grabbed Seiji’s hand, which had been animating Seiji’s diatribe, and brought the fingertips to his lips, kissing them softly, then looked up at Seiji through his eyelashes. Seiji deflated.

“I’ve seen the way you sleep,” Seiji said, distasteful. “If I let you into my bed, I’ll wake up on the floor.”

“I promise I’ll be good,” Nick grinned, knowing he’d won.

“Fine,” Seiji conceded, pulling his hand from Nick’s grasp and stalking over to turn off the lights. “But if you hinder my sleep,” he warned, hitting the light switch with a vengeance, “in  _any way_ , I’ll never let you sleep here again, do you understand me?”

“Cross my heart,” Nick told him, diving under the covers before Seiji changed his mind. In a moment, Seiji was standing over Nick. He huffed, disappeared again to a rustle of the duck curtain, and returned, throwing Nick’s pillow at him. Nick caught it, touched Seiji had thought to grab it for him. Then Seiji was climbing over Nick to slip under the blankets between him and the wall. Extra precaution, Nick guessed, against ending up on the floor. He beat his pillow into place—under his head, for once. He had other plans for his hugging material tonight. Nick tossed onto his side and flung an arm over Seiji, who was, as ever, situated on his back like he was about to be carried to his grave.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Seiji scathed.

“Sleeping,” Nick told him.

“We hardly fit,” Seiji remarked.

“You’re fine,” Nick mumbled, kissing Seiji’s shoulder through the fabric of his shirt. Seiji  _hmphed_ , but his breathing evened out in mere minutes, and it wasn’t long after that that his rhythmic breaths and the steady beating of his heart under Nick’s hand lulled him into sleep as well.

***

Nick woke up disoriented. He felt as though a great, and oddly welcome, heat had been stolen from him. It dawned on him what that warmth had been, and why he missed it so much. When Nick realized that Seiji had extricated himself from his grasp, he frowned. He felt around for his phone, finding it in the crack between bed and wall, and checked the time. It was 4:09 AM, which explained Seiji’s absence. Nick sat up, a little groggy and a little hurt. When Seiji stepped from the bathroom in his zip jacket, Nick spoke.

“Planning to sneak off without me again?” He accused. Seiji froze, a flash of panic crossing his face.

“I didn’t think you’d want to be woken up,” Seiji said. “I’m sorry if I offended you.” And he actually sounded it. Sorry. And worried, too.

“Since when do you care about offending me?” Nick asked, amused rather than sulking now. Possibly a little touched at Seiji’s concern. “Do you, uh, mind if I tag along?” Nick felt embarrassed to ask, though he wasn’t sure why he should be. Seiji nodded, but Nick could tell there was something he wasn’t saying.  _Idiot,_  he thought,  _of course Seiji doesn’t want to have to deal with me during his practice._  “I mean, you can say no, I just thought—,”

“No,” Seiji said at once, adamant. “My private coach is coming this morning, is all. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday—plus weekends,” Seiji was speaking too fast. “Those are the days he comes, but, please, come. I just won’t be able to fence with you this morning, but if you want to warm up…” Seiji groaned, burying his exceptionally red face in his hands. “Just come,” he mumbled through them.

“If I weren’t such a considerate boyfriend,” Nick said, standing up and stretching, “I’d peel your hands away from your face and kiss you right now. But, since I’m the best, I’ll brush my teeth first.”

***

It wasn’t until afternoon practice that Nick and Seiji were asked, point blank, what was up with them. At breakfast, Bobby had seen Seiji and Nick, the first people in the cafeteria that morning, tucked away together in a corner. His lips had quirked in a smile and Nick had known he’d demand a blow-by-blow playback later. But he hadn’t asked for it during class, and hadn’t even bothered to seek Nick out at lunch. Nick had gotten a text from Bobby, though:  _I’ll give you lovebirds some time to settle in ;) but if you think you can get rid of me forever, you’re wrong…it’s my table too! <3. _Nick had laughed at that, grateful for Bobby giving them some space for now. Maybe he was being considerate, waiting until he had proper time and privacy to corner Nick and ask to know everything. Eugene had no such tact.

“So,” Eugene flung an arm casually around Nick’s shoulders, for which he got a glare from Seiji that he didn’t see. “Just to be clear, it’s you, right?”

“What’s me?” Nick asked, amused at both Eugene’s question, which he didn’t understand, and the way Seiji was still seething over his arm, which Nick had yet to remove from his shoulder.

“You and Seiji are dating now, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Nick wasn’t surprised he’d noticed. Not that Nick had been too handsy today—he figured he should ease Seiji into the dating life before being all over him in the middle of the lunchroom. But the fact that they’d eaten together and were so unusually friendly with each other was bound to have gathered some notice.

“So what I’m saying,” Eugene grinned, “is that you’re the mystery man in Seiji’s love life everyone’s been talking about. Am I right, or am I right?” Nick watched as Seiji colored scarlet at the direct question. Nick, on the other hand, was impressed with Eugene’s subtlety. He  _could_  have said something like  _‘hey, so you’re the guy that’s been leaving hickeys on Seiji’s neck,’_ but he’d asked the same thing in a less invasive way. Nick wanted to laugh, but didn’t dare. Seiji’s face was still set in a scowl, and the flush definitely was  _not_  helping his mood. Nick carefully ducked out of Eugene’s hold and shrugged, looking to Seiji for guidance on what he was and was not allowed to say here. To his surprise, Seiji did more than give Nick a hint.

“Yes,” Seiji said, loud and clear. And noticeably irritated. “That would be Nick. Can we all move on now?”

“Yeah, sure,” Eugene said with his favorite combination of a wink and thumbs up. “Tanner owes me twenty bucks. He thought it was Jesse, but I was like nah, man, can’t be, Seiji hates his guts. Nope, I said, the only person who could possibly bother Seiji into a relationship is Nick.”

“You  _bet_  on my personal business?” Seiji asked, incredulous. Nick rubbed at his neck. He’d known bets were supposedly going on, Bobby had told him as much. But he’d forgotten to mention it to Seiji. He hadn’t seen how it was relevant, in any case. But, really, he should have expected this from Eugene.

“Sorry, bro,” Eugene didn’t seem sorry at all. Nick couldn’t help but laugh now. Seiji shot him a disapproving look, but didn’t seem genuinely upset about it. Aiden smirked at them from where he sat with Harvard across the room, but, true to his word, he didn’t make a comment about the storage room. Not, that was, until Nick faced him in a match.

“Took you long enough,” Aiden said with a smugness that made Nick want to punch him. “I  _told_  you you’d have to apologize and it still took you almost a month to get your shit together.”

Nick ignored him. And he stopped listening altogether once Aiden tried to rile him up with talk about Jesse. Nick was pretty sure that, at one point, Aiden mentioned something about Seiji, too, but even then he didn’t tune in. Nothing Aiden had to say about Jesse or Seiji was relevant anymore. Because Nick  _knew_  that Seiji liked him and had never liked Jesse.

“Well,” Aiden said after a close match, “it was fun getting under your skin while it lasted.”

“Fun for  _you_ ,” Nick griped.

“The only kind of fun that matters,” Aiden told him solemnly.

Seiji was his next opponent and Nick felt the familiar drive to beat him rush through his veins. He may be well on his way to falling in love with the boy who stood across from him, épée raised, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to be good enough to beat Seiji. He smiled. He’d get there, one day.

“How’s your ankle?” Nick asked, though he was sure he knew the answer.

“Entirely better,” Seiji said and Nick nodded.

“Since last week, right?” Nick had seen how Seiji had been careful with his previously injured ankle until midway through the previous week, and he’d been back on top form since. Nick was looking forward to a match against Seiji at his best. Seiji, however, lowered his blade slightly, head tilting to the side in contemplation.

“You,” Seiji paused, and Nick thought he saw him bite his lip under his mask. Nick had never seen  _that_  move before, and undeniable desire roared in his ears because of it, but he pushed that aside for later. “You were paying attention to my  _ankle_  all this time?”

“Huh? Yeah,” Nick shrugged, unsure why Seiji was so surprised by this. “Someone had to keep an eye on you before you fucked up your ankle again because you’re too proud to take care of yourself.”

“Oh,” Seiji exhaled. “Thank you.”

“Yeah,” Nick shrugged, a little embarrassed now. He hadn’t thought it was a big deal, but Seiji was so affected by it that it threw him off balance. “Anytime.”

“You two,” Coach Williams barked. “Stop with the chatting!”

“Sorry, Coach,” Nick called, honestly shocked she wasn’t making them do suicides for their dallying. They didn’t postpone any longer, just in case.

Fencing Seiji was nothing like kissing him, but it gave Nick almost the same rush. His lips curled into a determined smile as their blades clanged, reverberating from a parry seven. He’d  _almost_  made that point. He was intent on landing the next one.

***

Back in their room, Nick stared at Seiji’s bed. He hadn’t paid attention when Seiji had made it this morning. Nick wasn’t exactly a bed-making kind of guy. And he wasn’t an observant sort of person either. So he’d paid the process no heed. But now he saw that two pillows, rather than one, were tucked neatly under the blanket.

“So,” Nick called to Seiji, who was still in the middle of brushing his teeth. “I take it I’m invited back for the night?” Seiji glanced at him from the bathroom, then seemed to figure out what Nick was looking at. He flushed before turning away. Nick took that as a yes, happily unmaking the bed and making himself comfortable in it.

Seiji pulled out the reading assigned for english before sitting down on the bed. Nick knew he should follow Seiji’s example and get some work done, but he played on his phone instead. Seiji migrated under the covers and sunk further down the bed until he was propped on an elbow, book held at an uncomfortable angle. Nick snorted, looking over at him.

“You look like you’re having fun,” Nick said, and he wasn’t sure if he meant it ironically or sincerely. Seiji looked up from his book. Evidently, he couldn’t determine how Nick meant it either. Roused from his reading now, Seiji glanced at Nick’s phone.

“It’s late,” he said, closing the book and reaching over Nick to put it on top of his bag. “And,” he said, falling back down in the bed, “it’s your turn to get the lights.”

Nick pretended to be reluctant to do it, groaning loudly as he rolled out of bed, but he didn’t mind, really. He flicked off the lights, and didn’t bother to turn on his night lamp. He knew it got on Seiji’s nerves, and decided that he could do without it. For tonight, at the very least. Room dark, Nick made a dash back to the bed and hurtled on to it, causing Seiji to jostle around as Nick careened into him with a manic laugh.

“Shh,” Seiji hissed. “You’ll wake the whole hall.”

“Okay, okay,” Nick said, settling back down. Once again, he turned on his side to hold Seiji, an arm over his chest. But after a couple minutes, Seiji shifted, rolling to face the wall, his own hand taking Nick’s and dragging it with him.

“We’ll fit better this way,” Seiji murmured.

“Sure,” Nick said teasingly, close to Seiji’s ear as he adjusted too, slotting Seiji’s back against his chest and eliminating any space between them. “You don’t have to lie. It’s completely understandable, wanting to spoon. It  _is_  the superior way of sleeping.” Nick slid his other arm under Seiji’s neck. He loved how well their bodies fit together. Seiji made a  _hmm_  sound that could have been agreement or a warning for Nick to shut up.

Holding Seiji in his arms, Nick felt the familiar need to touch just a little bit more. Tentatively, cautiously, he slipped his hand up the front of Seiji’s shirt. He waited a moment, giving Seiji a chance to veto this. He didn’t, though Nick felt him shiver the tiniest bit. Carefully, he started rubbing lazy circles into Seiji’s bare skin with his hand. Seiji made a pleased sound, encouraging Nick to keep going, gliding his fingers the length of Seiji’s upper body.

Nick was pretty near to sleep, hand still tracing up and down Seiji’s torso, when his hand started feeling heavy. He let it rest, high on Seiji’s chest and rubbed his thumb back and forth, instead.

Seiji jolted.

Nick was torn out of his half asleep fog, alarm kicking in as Seiji made a growling sound deep in his throat.

“Wha—?” He’d meant to ask what was wrong, but it didn’t all come out. Seiji was squirming in his arms now, twisting around to face him.

“You’re doing it on propose,” Seiji accused, voice low and…wanting? Nick was startled, but not unpleasantly so. Seiji's entire face was burning red—cheeks, ears, forehead, even the bridge of his nose. And he looked desperate for something—for  _him_ , Nick thought. He swallowed hard, eyes wide. Nick honestly expected Seiji to kiss him, but he didn’t, just glared until Nick gave in and grabbed him.

“I’ll have you know,” Nick told him between soft, darting kisses that seemed to ignite Seiji further, “that I was peacefully snuggling with no ulterior motives whatsoever.” Seiji made a disbelieving sound. “Really!” Nick insisted. “I was told not to distract you. I was being good.”

“Don’t pretend you weren’t touching—on purpose—,” Seiji spluttered. Nick considered Seiji’s reaction and tried to figure out what he’d done to provoke it. Seiji hadn’t minded his wandering hand, not until—

“It wasn’t intentional, I swear, I was just falling asleep,” Nick laughed, but stopped as quickly as he could, sure Seiji was about to hit him.

Then, finally, the full scope of the scene made its way into Nick’s sleepy brain. And, suddenly, he wasn’t tired at all. Seiji had gotten all worked up over Nick without Nick doing a thing to help it along. Well, not a purposeful thing, in any case. Nick grabbed him again, this time with a need matching Seiji’s own, and kissed him, real and deep. Seiji offered up a noise between frustration and relief, opening his mouth eagerly for Nick’s tongue.

Nick snuck his hand back up Seiji’s shirt, eliciting another jolt as he brushed his thumb over Seiji’s nipple. It was, Nick had realized a little too late, what had set Seiji off in the first place. Though now he wondered if Seiji hadn’t gotten so sensitive from Nick’s innocent caresses before then. Nick wished he could see Seiji’s face better in the dark, but it made him more aware of every sound Seiji let out, of the rustling of their clothes and the blanket, and of his own heartbeat, mixed with raging and rampant  _want_ , roaring in his ears.

Nick kissed more trails down Seiji’s neck, but his hands, too filled with excitement and desire, couldn’t figure the stupid buttons out to get at more skin. With an exasperated growl, Nick pushed the shirt up, bunching it as high as it could go on Seiji’s chest. He thought he heard Seiji laugh at that, but he was back on his mission. He painted another hickey on Seiji’s chest, kissed and gently reworked some of the others, and even teased one perfectly pink nipple between his teeth. Seiji hissed, pulling Nick back up to his lips, kissing him with a fierceness Nick knew well. But he gave control of the kiss back over to Nick without complaint, which Nick found beyond hot. He liked that about Seiji, how unexpectedly docile he was when it came to kissing and intimacy. He liked how Seiji seemed to enjoy the dynamic as much as he did.

As if reading his thoughts, Seiji broke from his lips to huff another small laugh, “I’ve noticed it before,” he said, “but you  _really_  like pushing me into things, don’t you?”

“What?” Nick asked, not following. Then he realized that he had Seiji pinned up against the wall, even as they lay in the bed. Nick laughed too. “Oh, yeah. I guess I do. That okay?”

“I don’t mind,” Seiji said.

“You say that a lot, you know. You don’t mind that I’m obsessed with you. You don’t mind that I call you cute. You don’t mind that I pin you down everywhere.”

“I don’t,” Seiji snapped, eyes narrowing. He knew exactly what Nick was getting at. “And you’re not getting more than that.” Nick grinned, kissing Seiji again. That had practically been a confession to him  _liking_ all those things.

Nick kissed Seiji again and again, ran his hands up and down the other boy’s body endlessly, nipped at his neck and ear and collar bones, and tugged gently at his hair. Seiji responded in kind with arched back and grasping hands and seductive sounds. Seiji’s hands even ventured from their usual places of rest to explore his back and chest, though Nick noticed how, in the end, Seiji liked to wrap his arms around him and pull in close the best. Each time he did this, arms circled around Nick’s waist and hands clutching at Nick’s back, Nick was hit by how cute the gesture was, and, more than that, how  _sweet_ it was. He couldn’t resist it at all.

Still, Nick knew they ought to stop; they were both panting heavily and his lips tingled from an excess of kissing. Seiji’s lips looked enticingly swollen, too. And it was late. Nick thought guiltily of his promise  _not_  to distract Seiji from sleep.

“We should go to bed,” Nick breathed against Seiji’s lips, more out of obligation than any real desire to sleep. Or to stop.

“I know,” Seiji said, but he didn’t pull away. Instead, he hooked one leg over Nick’s body and pressed himself tighter against his chest. Never one to turn down such an offer, Nick’s hand traversed down Seiji’s body, over ribs and hip and ass until it settled on his thigh, holding it, for now, loosely. Then, Seiji’s voice came, somehow strong and needy all at once. “But, right now, I just want  _more_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ well here we are, folks, at the end of my smooch fest of a fic. thank you all so much for sticking with me and saying such nice things all the time <3 ive had a real fun time writing this one and im like weirdly melancholy to be finished with it but i think 12 chapters is fitting since theres 12 single issues of the comic itself so its like...poetic justice. because that's what that phrase means. for real, i love you all, you rock


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